Barrier
by ThatRandomStranger
Summary: Trunks has a nightmare involving Goten again. But is it just simply in Trunks' head? Or is a new evil awakening? [Due to new revelations from DBS, consider this an AU]
1. Dreams

**Enjoy!**

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 **Barrier**

"Trunks!" A cry somewhere in the darkness yelled out to his best friend. Trunks found himself in a middle of a black void with echoes coming from every side.

"Goten!" Trunks yelled out for his comrade and started running. It seemed to him that the darkness surrounds him from every angle.

"Trunks!" Goten yells out again and an image appears of Goten before quickly fading away, soon followed by an evil voice laughing, which Trunks knew all too well.

"Goten!"

There was no reply, just a silence of death

"AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Goten screamed from the pain inflicted by someone's Ki, familiar to everyone Trunks knew. The cry echoed everywhere.

"Hang on, Goten! I'm coming!" Trunks yelled.

"Oh but my dear boy, you are far too late." A certain bio-android from the future speaks behind Trunks. A lightning aura surrounds the android with a yellow light. In his grasp, he held Goten from his neck, whose combat outfit was stained with blood from damage taken by Cell.

"Cell..!" Trunks anger started to show. He went into Super Saiyan and started to charge at Cell, only to be held effortlessly by a pink character of pure evil; Majin Buu's original form. "Dammit, let me go!"

"Why thank you Buu, I think I'll have fun torturing the life out of Goku's child now, I'll let you take the kill once he's almost dead."

Trunks' face drained from his face, he witnessed this before, but it never got any easier for the 10-year-old. "No... don't you do it, Cell!"

"I'm sorry, dear Trunks, but it's the closest to killing Goku I will ever get. But I want to make it memorable to Goku." He studies Goten very closely before deciding a choice to torture. "I'm going to tear him limb by limb!" Goten whimpers at the threat Cell made.

"No! Do whatever you have against him to me!" Trunks pleaded. His words fell on deaf ears.

"Oh my word, is that fear I sense in him?" Cell inquired and laughed. "Even though he's Goku's son he has fear of pain. Is that irony, Trunks?" Trunks didn't reply.

"I guess it is." Cell chuckled.

"Trunks.. help me!" Goten started to cry.

"Let go of him, you jerk!" Trunks tried to break out of Majin Buu's grasp, but his efforts went in vain.

"Now, it's time for your punishment, Son of Goku!". Cell's face suddenly became stern and without effort, he easily ripped out Goten's right arm. Goten's yells of pain echoed through the void with his blood turning the darkness around him into a tinted red.

"GOTEN!"

/

Trunks jumped up from his sleeping position. His whole body was covered in sweat, his heart was beating rapidly and he was breathing heavily. He put his hands on his face to wipe the sweat away before placing it on his face, recalling the events of his nightmare. "Goten..." he said quietly. Vegeta witnessed his son's having a nightmare, the way he murmured Goten's name in a desperate way every night brought to the Saiyan Prince's attention. It was about time that he talked to his son.

"Trunks?" Trunks looked up to see his father peaking in through the small gap since the door was partially open. Vegeta entered the room and sat beside his son slowly. "Do you want to talk about it?" Vegeta was always the one to say 'suck it up like the true Saiyan you are', however, he realised that this was not helping Trunks one bit. Trunks shook his head and kept on recalling details of his dreams. The screams of Goten echoed through his mind, from him calling out his name to his cries of pain to him asking for his help.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Can I meet Goten now?" Trunks requested.

"What good will that do? The kid is probably fast asleep by now."

Vegeta was going to deny until he saw how anxious his son was.

"Alright, but he's probably asleep so try not to wake him up." Trunks quickly put his jacket and shoes on and set off flying, Vegeta was right behind him. He still couldn't understand what was making his son so paranoid. He rang up Goku's mobile to inform him of their arrival.

"Hey Kakarot, what are you doing?"

"Oh hi Vegeta, just looking for some food. Why?"

"Trunks wants to visit Goten."

"But he's asle-"

"Don't worry, we won't wake him up. Trunks is paranoid over a nightmare and I don't know why."

"Uhh...Well sure he can come over, I don't mind. See ya, Vegeta."

Vegeta disconnected the call and noticed that Trunks had created a great distance between him. "What is eating that boy?" he questioned in his mind as he closed the gap.

/

 **3AM**

The father and son arrived at Goku's house. Vegeta yawned as he landed on the doorstep and lightly knocked on the door. The door opened and there appeared Goku who was busy stuffing his face with food. "Hey, Vegeta." He then looked down at Trunks. "Hey Trunks, how are you feeling?"

"Can I meet Goten?" Trunks asked, ignoring Goku's question altogether. Goku looked at Vegeta and he gave his approval.

"Alright, but you must promise me you won't wake him up."

"I promise." and with that, Trunks made his way quickly yet quietly to Goten's room. He carefully opened the door to find Goten fast asleep in his room and instantly a huge worry was lifted from his shoulders. He carefully makes his way towards Goten and knelt down looking at his face. The little mini Goku was fast asleep, mumbling something about ice cream. Trunks smiled, glad that his friend was having a better night sleep than he was. He gives a small hug to Goten and just before he left, he heard something about asking some ice cream for Trunks. Trunks then slowly closed the door behind him after he whispered "good night" to him.

Goku and Vegeta were discussing the problem about Trunks when he came down. The two full-blooded Saiyans thought of a plan to know Trunks' nightmare.

"Hold still." Goku said. "This won't hurt." Goku placed his palm on Trunks' forehead and Vegeta held onto Goku's head, both who were currently reading Trunks' mind. It didn't take long for both of them to find the nightmare that Trunks was having and even they both got scared of Goten's treatment.

"Wow... that was some dream you were having, Trunks." Goku said, while he wiped the sweat off his own forehead.

"So that's what was bothering you all those other nights..." Vegeta said and slightly shuddered at what he witnessed.

After a brief moment of silence, Goku asked if they were going to stay over.

"After all, it is pretty late. I got an idea; Trunks can sleep with Goten and Veggie-san can sleep on the couch." Trunks nodded and went into Goten's room. Goku noticed that Vegeta was growling.

"What wrong? Have you got a tummy ache, Vegeta?" Goku asked.

"Don't you dare ever call me that ever again! Now if you don't mind, you could get me a pillow and a blanket."

"Sure thing." Goku went upstairs to find some pillows and blankets. He noticed Goten's room door wide open and inside, he could see Trunks and Goten sleeping together, with Goten curled up near Trunks and Trunks' arm embraced around Goten. Both were fast asleep. Goku told Vegeta to come see this with a big smile on his face. Even Vegeta was partly smiling before he wiped his smirk when Goku turned his head towards him.

"Kakarot, that dream he's has though….it still disturbs me."

"I'm sure he will forget it."

"That's not what I was on about. Don't deny it Kakarot, you sensed something evil in that as well as I." Vegeta snapped. He could see through Goku's eyes that he was denying it would happen.

"It's probably nothing." Goku dismissed Vegeta's revelations. "Besides, Cell's dead already. I don't think many people know about him apart from us." He said as he walked into his room to fetch a spare blanket and pillow, and tossed it to Vegeta, before he collapsed on the bed and instantly passed out.

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	2. Reincarnation of Two Evils

**The Reincarnation of Two Evils**

Back in the Son house, everyone was asleep just as the first rays of daylight began to show in the sky, though the thick concentration of clouds on the horizon seemed to have other ideas. Goku and Chi-Chi were sleeping in their room. Vegeta was sleeping downstairs on the couch and Goten and Trunks were sleeping in Goten's room. Trunks' nightmare never came during the rest of the night, which meant that he was able to finally rest from what seemed to be a month's worth of back-to-back nightmares.

Goten turned over in his sleep and his hand lay on Trunks cheek. It wasn't till he realised that someone's skin was there that he jumped up wide awake from his sleep and saw Trunks sleeping next to him. "Trunks, what are you doing here?" Goten whispered, partly relieved that it was only his friend, but still giving questioning glances on why he was here.

Trunks partially woke up and sat up. "Eh...eeehhh" was all he said before falling back to his slumber.

"Silly Trunks." Goten thought and smiled. He sensed another familiar Ki close by, and realised that it was Vegeta once he was outside the door. Goten wondered why they were both here. He walked back to his room ready to change out of his pyjamas until he noticed Trunks whimpering. Goten flew to his side and listened to his mumbling.

"No... stop it...leave him..." was all Goten heard and Trunks started to sweat. Goten ran over to his side to feel his forehead and noticed that his body temperature was flaring up.

"Oh no.." Goten worriedly thought. "Wake up Trunks! Snap out of your dream!" Trunks was still in his nightmare, clutching onto the bed sheet and gritting his teeth. "Trunks, wake up!" Goten shouted loudly and Trunks finally woke up, his face hot and covered in sweat and tears. He saw Goten and embraced him tightly; Goten returned the hug and stroked the back of his hair. "What happened, Trunks?" Goten asked quietly. Trunks shook his head, saying that he just had a nightmare, not requiring Goten to be also frightened if he went into detail about it. "Hey Trunks, how come you're here?"

"Well...I uh.. was going to surprise you by having a sleepover, but you fell asleep and wouldn't wake up so I got bored and went asleep next to you." Trunks lied to his best friend. Goten thought about Trunks' story for a minute.

"Oh okay, but how come Uncle Vegeta is here?" Goten asked.

"Uhhhh... oh yeah, My dad and your dad were sparring in the night." Trunks again lied. He smiled at the way Goten called Vegeta 'uncle', no matter how many times Vegeta demands

"Oh okay. So what do you want to do now?" Goten asked. At that moment, his stomach rumbled and he blushed slightly. Trunks laughed and ruffled his hair.

"I guess your stomach knows what it wants to do..." Trunks said in a joking manner. Goten smiled and got dressed while Trunks went outside to wake up his father, and caught him mumbling about Bulma again.

"Woman... I demand...royalty...prince of all Saiyans...stronger than the low-life Kakarot."

Trunks quietly giggled and woke his father up to snap out of his utopia. "Dad, wake up."

"Huh? What? Where am I? Why are you here?" Vegeta yawned while Trunks sweatdropped.

"We're at Goten's house remember?"

"Oh right, I think I brought your clothes.." Vegeta pointed to the white bag full of clothes.

"Thanks, dad." Trunks smiled and hugged his father.

Vegeta just grunted at the gesture. Trunks found it funny.

/

On the Planet of New Namek, where the grass is blue and the wind blows past the many trees planted, the Namekians were able to live in peace after Frieza had managed to eradicate almost their entire race in his dream to achieve immortality. They found Goku as their saviour for defeating Frieza.

A mysterious figure arrived at the planet, claiming to be from the world of the Kai's. He wore black, Kaioshin clothes and a comb backed hair. This figure called himself Zai and asked if he could use the seven dragon balls to make a wish. The Namekians, noticing him as a Kai, allowed him to make a wish in private.

"Those of you who gathered the 7 orbs, speak your wishes and I shall grant them if they're within my power" Porunga with a booming voice announced.

"Oh mighty dragon! For my first wish, I require the resurrection of Majin Buu pure evilness and the bio-android created by ; Cell!"

The dragon attempts to carry out the wish with its red eyes glowing.

"Only 1 of your chosen people can be revived. The mortal called Majin Buu is currently reincarnated on Earth, and cannot be turned back into his original form."

"Well, this is going to be tricky." Zai thought. "Aha! I got it." He turned his attention back to the dragon. "Oh mighty dragon, bring back Cell!"

"It shall be done" The dragon announced with its booming voice and its eyes went glowing red. On Earth, Cell noticed that he's been in the same spot he had died. Despite that, he also noticed that the dragon was not summoned here. Vegeta noticed the evil Ki that was not far from Goku's home. In fact, it seemed like it was at Cell's tournament ring. Or rather, what was left of it? Vegeta smirked, "So he's been revived, too bad he won't live for long." He opened the door and blasted off.

"Hey dad, where are you going?" Trunks followed his father to the ring while his father, thirsty for vengeance, didn't notice him.

 **Back on Namek**

"I have fulfilled one of your three wishes, speak to me your second wish, and I will grant it." The dragon roared.

"Oh mighty dragon, I wish for Majin Buu's pure evil as a clone in front of me!"

"It shall be done" The dragon eyes once again glowed red and a clone of Kid Buu was made.

 **Back on Earth**

"Oh Cell, now it's finally my turn to lay vengeance on you." Vegeta smirked. "No longer will my family suffer from the likes of you!" Vegeta arrived at the former Cell games location where he found Cell standing in the middle of the open, arms folded and eyes closed.

"I've sensed your arrival, Vegeta." Cell evilly said as he opened his eyes. "But I'm sure you aren't the only one who's currently present here."

"Who the hell are you-" He was cut off by a point from Cell which lead to a frightened Trunks shaking due to the fear inside of him.

"He's quite the boy, Vegeta; I never knew he had the courage of a mouse." Cell mocked Vegeta.

"Dammit boy! What's wrong with you!?" Vegeta yelled at his son. Trunks' mind, however, was filled with fear of the bio-android. He couldn't handle the sight of Goten being tortured and the screams of pain filled Trunks' mind.

"Well, I think I'll meet Goku now. Bye Vegeta!"

"Oh no you don't!" Vegeta charges at Cell with his fist but he just hits where Cell once stood. "Dammit, he used the Instant Transmission technique."

A dagger seemed to go through Trunks' mind as he heard those words. "Oh no...Goten!" and he flew off in his Super Saiyan form and Vegeta followed behind him.

 **At Goku's house**

Goten was busy looking for something in the cupboards, the first thing that struck his mind was food. Since Saiyans have a big appetite for food, it was almost impossible to think of anything else if their stomach was not full of food. "Gosh am I hungry, I wonder where Uncle Vegeta and Trunks went off to.." he thought. He decided not to bother finding food until Chi-Chi woke up since he didn't have a clue how to cook. Last time he attempted to cook with Trunks, they burned the house down and simultaneously somehow managed to ignite Chi-Chi's anger as well, who was holding a frying pan on fire as she looked at them with her fiery eyes. "Oh that was a scary moment.." Goten chuckled to himself.

"Now what do we have here?" a voice came from behind Goten without any prior warning. Goten turned around to see a muscular green alien. An evil looking one at that. He quickly jumped into his fighting stance. "So you're Goku's son? You're just a spitting image of your dad." Cell laughed and this caused Goten to switch to his Super Saiyan form.

"Who are you?"

"Just your perfect angel of death, dearest." Cell chuckled. Goten charged at Cell with a barrage of kicks and punches but received a knee to the stomach after his attacks were effortlessly blocked, which instantly took away the Super Saiyan transformation. Cell then slammed his fist into his face, causing Goten to crash full force into the ground and then grabbed him by the neck and began to choke him. "Sorry about this, kid, but it was all your father's fault." Cell sternly said.

"Leave him!"

"What?" Cell looked in time to see Trunks kick him in the jaw, sending him outside of the house through the walls.

"What's going on?" Goku appeared outside. He saw Cell on the ground and instantly turned Super Saiyan. Cell was astonished of Goku's power reaching a height he's never felt before. Vegeta also arrived and turned Super Saiyan.

"A 'courage of a mouse' indeed; he managed to actually throw you right outside the house." Vegeta laughed.

"I thought I told you to stay out of our world, Cell!" Goku angrily yelled and charged a Ki blast aimed right at Cell. Just before Goku was about to launch it, Cell disappeared. His Ki could not be sensed, leaving everyone bewildered. Trunks ran to Goten's side.

"Are you okay, Goten?" Trunks asked quickly, checking for any injuries Cell might have left him.

"I'm fine thanks to you, Trunks." Goten said as he wiped the blood that came from his nose. "For a second I thought I was going to-" Trunks embraced him tightly, cutting off Goten's words.

"I thought I was going to lose you.." Trunks quietly cried. Goten was unsure of what to say and slightly confused. He remained quiet and returned the hug. Goku and Vegeta arrived down outside the hole in the wall and noticed the two hugging each other. Goten noticed his father and quickly pulled back from the hug and moved his head towards Goku to signal Trunks. Trunks understood the signal and wiped tears away from his eyes.

"Hey, Goten, you okay?" Goku asked, worried that Cell might've injured him badly.

"Yup! Thanks to Trunks!" Goten beamed a smile at his dad, then to Trunks. Goku let out a sigh of relief. "That was a close one..." Goku thought. Just then, large growls came from the four warriors' stomachs

"Oh man, I never turned Super Saiyan on an empty stomach though..." Goku admitted and everyone laughed.

Meanwhile on Planet Beerus...

"GAH!" Beerus suddenly woke up with a shout and Whis quickly entered the room.

"What is it, Lord Beerus?"

"Nothing, I had an ugly dream."

"You and I both know that no Gods gets ugly dreams unless they're prophetic ones." Beerus and Whis remained in silence, both pondered on whether they should know this by now. Whis knew that although Beerus' prophetic dreams were mostly false. His nightmares or ugly dreams as he calls them, becomes true.

Most of the time.

Beerus finally broke the everlasting silence between the two despite him wandering around the castle.

"Alright, it's about Goku's youngest brat."

"Lord Beerus, he's only 9, you can't possibly think about...-"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT, YOU BAKA!" Beerus yelled at him as he annoyed at what he thought Whis was thinking.

"...recruiting him as a God of Destruction." Whis finished off.

Beerus rubbed his temples and let out an annoyed sigh "..I saw Goku's brat being tortured by a weird, green thing and a pink blob holding down Vegeta's brat."

"And what were you doing?" Whis asked.

"At the Earth's atmosphere, some kind of barrier was not letting me enter." Beerus said.

"It's not like you to care, Lord Beerus." Whis pointed out. Beerus grunted at the remark.

"Who said I cared?" Beerus shouted at him.

Whis knew his purple, destructive, short-tempered companion/student wasn't the one to actually start caring about others. Just then, his stomach grumbled. "Whis! Prepare some breakfast. My Godly duties can be attended later." Beerus got up to go to his huge, hot, steaming bathtub.

"Right away..." Whis sighed.

/

 **Zai's Planet**

"Welcome, fellow comrades. I am Zai, the one who resurrected you from the lowest depths of hell!" Zai introduced himself. "I assure you we will have a great time doing business together in the world."

"Why did you teleport me here?" Cell angrily asked. "I was so close to laying waste to the whole world."

"Don't be daft; you know how powerful Goku was when he went Super Saiyan. His power allows him to hold his own against the God of Destruction. He has an advantage with his new God form along with Vegeta."

"Even Vegeta?" Cell was shocked to have heard how much the Warrior Race evolved between the time he hosted the Cell games and now. "How am I supposed to compete with God powers?!"

Zai chuckled. "Don't worry; you are, after all, part Saiyan. Now tell me. Will you partake in my mission, in exchange for a chance of revenge against these puny mortals? Against Son Goku?"

/

At the Son house, Vegeta and Goku were forced to fix the wall Cell went through after Chi-Chi began to scream at them and threatened them with no breakfast. In the meantime, Goten and Trunks went to their room to clean up the wounds Goten sustained and play their board games while Chi-Chi prepared breakfast.

"Kakarot. That dream Trunks had…. Cell was revived…." Vegeta said.

"Hmm?"

"It's becoming reality.."

"A-are you sure? I mean, it could be just a coincidence right? I mean, dreams are just dreams right?" said Goku, still denying the fact that Trunks' dream was becoming true.

"I'm afraid not." A deep voice came from the sky, which appeared to be the God of Destruction Beerus, and his attendant and teacher, Whis. "Mortals can usually get prophetic dreams of people when you're particularly close to them and a sort of danger is imminent. Though we Gods always get them every time we try to sleep, and it is always bugging me when it keeps showing the planet that I blew up 10 weeks ago... Worse part is you can't change them no matter what you do, unless that bond is cut off."

"But surely there's another way? Like we could stop the ones inside Trunks' dream."

"Like I said, the bond must be broken of the one who has the dream, if you wish to make changes to his fate." Beerus said.

"You can't mean-" Goku began but Beerus cut him off.

"Vegeta's brat needs to break his bond with him, if he wants your brat to live."

"That's impossible" Vegeta interrupted "Goten and Trunks can't even spend a day without meeting each other, and you're asking Trunks to break the bond willingly?" Vegeta knew how upset Trunks would be if he broke his lifelong-best friend bond.

"I had enough of this topic, he either breaks it or he doesn't." Beerus sternly said and began to walk to the kitchen to find any food.

"I'm afraid Lord Beerus is right." Whis said with a sigh, and then followed his companion. Goku and Vegeta looked at the sky to see the dark clouds finally come in from the east. They pondered over how they were going to tell Trunks and how they both react afterwards. They never knew a situation as difficult as this. They both knew that Goten would die if they stay together, but also knew both will die in the inside if they did not.

"Who knew making a decision would be tougher than winning a battle.." Goku sadly said. The rain came hard upon them, blocking out most of the sunlight. The wind blew hard against them, giving the warriors Goosebumps, but they did not shiver. "Damn you, Cell..." Goku cursed in a whisper.

Just then, Vegeta had an idea.

"How about we get the Earth's dragon balls and wish us to Cell? Then we deal with him and we avoid Beerus' idea." Vegeta suggested. Goku's eyes seemed to light up with hope within them.

"I guess... that could work. We're going to need the Dragon radar though." Goku placed a hand on Vegeta and they teleport to Capsule Corp.

At Capsule Corp

At Capsule Corporation, Bulma was just about to ring up Chi-Chi before Vegeta and Goku appeared in front of her, startling her.

"Goku!" She smacks him on the head. "How many times do I have to tell you to use the front entrance!?"

"Hehe... sorry." Goku apologised with a sheepish grin on his face as he rubbed where Bulma smacked him. Bulma then turned to Vegeta.

"And just where were you? And where is Trunks?" Bulma asked with a stern face.

"At Kakarot's house. Why?"

"I think I should be asking that question." Bulma folded her arms. Vegeta looked away in response. "Has Trunks been asking for another sleepover?"

"...Yes..." Vegeta replied. Technically, he wasn't lying.

"And the father agreed to that.. He's just like you.." She sighed. "Why are you two here anyway?"

"We need the dragon radar," Goku said.

"Eh? What for?"

"Cell's has been revived. I plan to hunt him down." Vegeta smirked as he punched his fists together.

"Eh? How?" Bulma says as she walks to the inventory to fish out the dragon radar from the countless other inventions the blue haired scientists made.

"I'm not sure, though I'm pretty confident that we'll get answers once we're there." Vegeta takes the dragon radar.

"Well... make sure you're back by lunch. I'll be waiting at Chi-Chi's home!" Bulma yelled as Goku and Vegeta rushed out to collect the seven, orange starred orbs.

/

 **Goten's room**

Trunks was busy cleaning up Goten's wounds. Goten winced as the medicine stung. Trunks looked at a streak of blood that trailed down from Goten's forehead to Goten's lips, before having another repulsive vision from his never-ending nightmare. He tensed up briefly and his power shot up for a split second before he calmed himself and wiped the blood away. Both of them remained silent as Trunks finished applying a first aid plaster to Goten.

Trunks sighed as he stood up straight, before looking back at Goten sat down on the bed. Both of their gazes were on each other as an awkward silence filled the room. Trunks then places a hand on Goten's cheek and moves his head to the side, checking his neck. Red marks, but they'd fade away in due time.

Trunks' yawning broke another moment of silence. "Ah... I'm so tired..." Goten chuckled at that but then began to yawn himself. "I guess I'm not the only one." Trunks laughed. A knock at the door caught both of their attention.

"Breakfast is ready, boys!" Chi-Chi called out to them.

"Oh yeah! Food!" Goten rushes out of the room, leaving Trunks in the dust, and looked at the table to find Beerus and Whis munching through it. "Oh... Hello, Lord Beerus and Lord Whis." Goten bowed before taking a chair opposite where Beerus sat. Beerus gave a mere grunt and stared at him closely, and yet coldly with his eyes, making Goten feel intimidated. Trunks entered the room and noticed the Gods. He said nothing as he took a seat next to Goten and stared back at him. Beerus and Whis continued eating their food while their gaze was locked onto them. Goten and Trunks hardly took a morsel since the creepy behaviour of the Gods deterred them from making any movements.

That is until Chi-Chi intervened. "Hey! Stop staring at the boys and let them eat peacefully!" Chi-Chi yelled at Beerus and Whis, causing them to flinch.

"We're sorry!" Beerus and Whis both apologised while Goten and Trunks giggled together with relief and soon began to chow down on the food. Chi-Chi then went outside to call in Vegeta and Goku for breakfast. After all, a Saiyan can only do so much on an empty stomach.

"Goku! Vegeta!" She called out for them as she stepped outside, but to her surprise, they were no longer there. She sighed as went back inside. "Saiyans..." She groaned and took a seat at the top end of the table; on her left was Goten and on the right was Beerus, and then looked to Trunks. "So, Trunks." The young Saiyans lifted his head with his mouth stuffed at the mention of his name. "I don't remember you coming over to our house. Unless you've been sneaking out at night?" She gave an accusing glare at him, causing Trunks to panic.

"I... uh..."

"That's exactly what he did." A voice came from the doorway to see a short, blue-haired woman stand there with her arms folded.

"Hi, Aunt Bulma!" Goten cheerfully greeted her.

"M-mom?!" Trunks stammered, not expecting his mother to suddenly show up. Bulma stomped over to Trunks with a stern face and pulled his ear. "Ow ow ow! What did I do?"

"That's for sneaking out in the middle of the night!" She yelled in his ear, causing everyone (except Chi-Chi) to jump.

"I'm sorry! Can you let go of my ear now?" Trunks pleaded. Bulma gave one more twist to it, before letting Trunks drop back into his seat. She let out a sigh.

"One of these days, I'm going to throw you into the time chamber and blow up the door so you two will stay apart."

Goten ears perked up. "Aunt Bulma, if you do that, can I have all of Trunks' toys?" Goten grinned

"What? You can't have them! They're mine!" The lavender haired Saiyan retorted.

"Of course you can, Goten."

"Mom!"

"You'll be stuck there forever so no one will play with them." Goten grinned mischievously at Trunks. Trunks then grabbed him in a playful headlock. "Hey! Stop it!" Everyone laughed, while Beerus carried on eating.

/

 **On a dormant planet**

Zai, Cell and Buu walked into a metallic building full of bizarre machinery and experiments. Cell thought that he was in Gero's lab that has advanced by 1000 years. It ranged from automatic experiments with different chemicals to the smallest drops to machinery working with new weapons and enchantments.

"So how do you like it, boys? I spent over a year building this lab piece by piece in order to fulfil my ambitions and your revenge." Zai said in a dramatic voice.

"Amazing.. Gero's lab is a mere flea to this." Cell said with an awe-struck face. "I still don't see how this is supposed to make me stronger."

"Watch and learn." Zai made his way to the central control panel and pressed some buttons. The whole place filled with a whirring sound and two doors opened and revealed two pods with their top exposed with blue and red liquids. "Buu, step into the red liquid and Cell should go into the blue liquid." Cell and Buu made their way into their respective pods and stood still; the latter squealed with delight. Zai locked the doors and a pressed another button. The two demons began to scream in their pods due to the immense pain they were handling, and it wasn't long before Cell's pod opened up with the liquid spilling onto the floor.

"I feel terrific! What did you do to us?" Cell asked while trying to grip his own strength.

"I put Buu's entire power into yours. I figured you could handle it since you had Saiyan cells."

Cell's face turned into a curious expression. "So what happened with Buu?"

"He's dead." Zai blankly said. "He wouldn't be able to carry out our plans for vengeance. He held nothing in value apart from power. That tyrant of pure destruction would not be able to achieve what I desire."

"I see, but I still won't be strong enough to battle Goku."

"Hah, you need to practice on controlling your Ki once you hit a grand level of power, that's the only way you'll achieve your God form."

Cell looked at Zai with questions pondering his mind. "A...God form?" Cell asked, but Zai just smiled at Cell. "Something beyond perfection..."

"Cell!" Cell snapped out of his thoughts as he heard his name shouted out from behind. Zai smirked, and then quickly wrapped his cloak around himself. The two of them turn their head's around to see Goku and Vegeta standing behind them.

"You two?" Cell looked at them, initially annoyed, but then a smirk was clearly present on his face. "I see. You teleported here to quickly put an end to us." Cell flared his yellow aura up, ready to engage them both.

"So Vegeta, whose taking him on first?" Goku asked in a low voice.

"I am. You and your son already had your turn." Vegeta smirked as he went into his battle stance.

"I see. I guess I'm taking whoever his friend is." Goku looked at the cloaked figure. Although most of his face was hidden by shadows, he could clearly make out a smirk on the stranger's face.

Cell and Vegeta charge at each other, exchanging a volley of punches at each other.

"Well I don't know what sort of person you are, but I see that you're the one who revived Cell."

"Heh. It's an honour to meet you, Son Goku."

Goku expression changes to a puzzled one. "Eh? How'd ya know my name?"

"That's for me to know.." He charges a purple ki ball glowing white with red lightning sparking around it. "And for you to find out." He fires it at Goku, engulfing him entirely and sending him back with speed.

"Ack!" Goku gritted his teeth as he tried to break free from the momentum the ki ball was pushing him back through several walls and mountains. Feeling the intensity of the attack, he turns Super Saiyan Blue in an attempt to break free, but fails, leading him to increase his power further. "Kaioken!" A burst of red aura surrounded his blue aura, which seemed to have broken out Goku from the ki ball completely.

"So... how was that?" Zai asked as he saw Goku teleport in front of him.

"Amazing..." Goku breathed heavily as he stared at Zai. "I'm guessing that wasn't your full power."

Zai laughed. "My dear Saiyan, if I used even half of my power, you would be dead already. Fight me with all that you have."

"If you insist." Goku starts to yell as his power starts to rise dramatically to the point where it could be felt across the universe.

/

Goten, Trunks, Beerus and Whis stopped eating as they felt Goku's Ki skyrocket.

"That energy... that's Dad's energy!" Goten yelled out. "But it feels really far from here."

"Goku? Where is he?" Chi-Chi asked, curious to know where the battle-hungry Saiyan went to.

"Oh. They went to fight Cell." Bulma answered. Whis uses his staff to show a hologram of the battle that was taking place. Vegeta was fighting Cell and Goku was fighting a cloaked figure.

/

"Here I go!" Goku charges at Zai in an attempt to punch him on the cheek, but unable to land a hit on him due to the swift movements of Zai.

"You'll have to be a lot faster than that." He grabs Goku's fist effortlessly and spun him around, before launching him into one of the machine panels. The panel blew up, engulfing Goku in a fiery explosion.

Meanwhile, Vegeta's power flared since he had trouble keeping up with Cell, and a yellow light engulfed him before dimming to reveal him in Super Saiyan.

"Impressive, Prince." Cell gasped for air as he battled with Vegeta. Though his face had a smirk plastered on it, he was angry and scared of how the warrior race managed to improve their power immensely during the years that have passed from his death.

"Your biggest mistake would be underestimating the potential of us Saiyans," Vegeta smirked before he heard another sinister voice behind him.

"Potential of Saiyans? Don't make me laugh." Zai scoffed, before instantly appearing in front of Vegeta and launched a frenzy of punches into his torso. Each punch managed to break a piece of his ribs.

/

"Uncle Vegeta!"

"Dad!" Goten and Trunks cried out.

/

Zai enjoyed the pummeling he was dishing out to Vegeta, before barely managing to dodge a kick that came from the side. He smiled as he grabbed both Goku and Vegeta and smashed them together, twice, before kicking Vegeta in the stomach away, sending him through several walls and Ki blasting Goku to the opposite direction. Both of them returned to their base forms, knocked unconscious.

Cell then started to make his way towards Goku, but Zai stopped him. Curious as to what he had to say, Cell was about to ask "why?" before Zai pointed to the sky. A bright light was making their way towards them. Zai held Cell's shoulder and they both disappeared just as soon as the light landed.

"Dad!" Goten quickly ran over to his father and knelt down beside him. Goku bled from his mouth, forehead and arms, while also scorched from the Ki blasts fired at him. His gi was ripped apart, ankles to the torso. "Dad?" He tried to shake him awake while fighting back tears.

Meanwhile, Trunks ran to find his father amongst the wreckage of panels, machine and computers. "Dad!? Dad, where are you?" Trunks searched for his Ki, before finding a faint Ki signature under where he stood. He quickly throws aside the wreckage and pulls his father out. Vegeta was in a similar state to Goku, with the addition of his ribcage shattered. He carried his father over to Whis, as does Goten with his own father, and Whis heals both of them.

"That should do it. Though I can't do anything about their unconscious state." Whis said as he started to explore the remainder of the building. Trunks let out a sigh of relief, before turning to Goten, who furiously rubbed his eyes.

"Are you okay, Goten?" Trunks asked with a hint of softness in his voice. Goten sniffed and wiped his eyes with his pink sleeve, before looking at Trunks and nodded at him.

Amongst the wreckage that Whis inspected, it seemed that one pod remained untouched. Whis uses his staff and the outline of the entrance glowed green, before falling out. Green liquid spilt on the floor, before a pink corpse fell out. The foul smell spread quickly throughout the air, causing Whis and Trunks to scrunch their faces in disgust while Goten vomited.

"Eugh! What's that disgusting smell?" Trunks walked over to Whis and saw the pink body on the floor.

"Whatever they've done, they've killed someone in the process," Whis said as he covered his nose with a hand and flipped over the corpse with his staff. Much to Trunks' horror, he recognises it.

"B-Buu?" Trunks went in for a closer look. It seemed that all of his ki was forcefully removed. "But... Why is he here? Could it be?" Trunks' thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Goten retching. "Goten?" He quickly ran over to Goten and started to rub his back.

Goten breathed heavily; his stomach was completely empty and he stood up straight. "Are you okay?" Trunks asked, concerned. Goten nodded.

"Yeah... but I don't wanna stay here anymore."

"You and me both."

Whis thought for a moment before the hideous smell of the degrading corpse snapped him out of it.

"Trunks, Goten, please carry your father's for the journey home please," Whis asked them, and they both complied.

* * *

 **Please leave a review**


	3. Breaking Bonds

**Chapter 3: Breaking Bonds**

A few hours passed. The first to awaken from his slumber was Goku. Initially, he was confused by his surroundings as he could've sworn he went to fight Cell and another guy. However, here he was in his bedroom.

"Huh...? That was a weird dream.." He got up from his bed and walked out of his room. As he walked out, he felt a pair of small arms latch around his neck.

"Daddy, you shouldn't scare me like that." Goten hugged his father tightly. Goku put on a confused look as he carried his son into the living room, where everyone sat.

"Goku!" Chi-Chi exclaimed as she hurried over to Goku. "Are you okay?"

"….What happened?" Goku asked with a confused face, causing everyone to sweatdrop.

"Don't you remember? You went to fight Cell and the other person." Goten reminded him. Goku thought for a moment before he realised what Goten meant.

"So it wasn't a dream? I thought it was…." The others sighed at Goku's comment.

"I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to." Whis started. "The first, most important priority is how such a being was able to defeat two Super Saiyan Blue's in a heartbeat."

"Oh yeah. That guy felt really strong." Goku had an excited look, while his hand tingled. "I want to learn more about him, and fight him again!"

Beerus had an annoyed look. "Honestly, you're far too carefree! Does it not matter to you if you die?"

"Don't worry. I can be revived later."

"That's not what I meant!" Beerus yelled at him.

"So what about Cell? Has he gotten stronger?" Trunks interjected, wanting to know about the bio-androids current condition. Just then, he heard another door open and shut. "Dad…"

"He's gotten stronger, but he's unable to match Super Saiyan Blue as far as I know." Vegeta went into the front room and sat down on the couch. "In fact, I could've beaten him then and there if that other bastard wasn't carrying that fight," Vegeta growled. Trunks gulped. If Cell was alive, the chance of him murdering Goten still remained. Worriedly, he got up and paced around the room, catching everyone's attention.

"Trunks?" Bulma called out. "What's wrong?"

Vegeta was about to speak but felt a pair of menacing eyes on him. He looked over to Beerus, who had his eyes focused on him as if to convey a message.

"I shouldn't talk?"

Beerus then nodded over to Trunks.

"Uh… Trunks?" Trunks stopped at Vegeta's calling and walked over to him. "We need to talk." Vegeta then nodded to Goku, and he teleported them to Kami's lookout.

"Eh? Where did they go?" Goten asked, and then pouted. "I wanted to go with them..." He whined.

/

Zai and Cell were on another planet similar to Zai's previous one, excluding the machinery and experiments. As they entered the grey building, Zai began to speak.

"Heh, I wasn't expecting them to actually show up in a mere day just to kill you. It seems as though you've made a lot of friends during your previous life." Cell's second blessing in a humanoid form smirked. The bio-android found the remarks demeaning to him while he grasped at his chest. Vegeta inflicted a lot of damage to him despite him going only Super Saiyan. It wounded his pride. He was built to perfection. To see himself beaten and pushed instantly to the limit ignited the fuse of his anger.

"That cannot be. I must become stronger! Beyond perfection!" Cell yelled and released a burst of aura around him, sending papers, pens and pencils flying everywhere, while also cracking several walls that surrounded them. Zai just smiled; he enjoyed the breeze that Cell was producing.

"Getting angry won't make you any stronger," Zai explained as he walked further into the building. Cell stopped powering up and looked maliciously into the distance. "Prince…..You're mine when we next meet.."

Oddly enough, the cracks that formed on the walls disappeared. The desks that were organised as if someone was teaching quickly blew to the side. Zai stopped and turned around, smirking.

"Attaining the power of the Gods is no simple matter. You must train your mind, as well as your body." Zai then placed both of his hands behind his back. "Strike me, Cell, till your mind and body are exhausted."

/

On the lookout, Goku and Vegeta just finished explaining to Trunks of the situation he faced and frankly, Trunks just wished if a third option was available. One, which didn't require Goten to be affected by any of this. He puts his hands over his face and begins to think about how Goten would be affected, what would come after that, how was he even going to pull it off? Would Goten forgive him afterwards? "Just tell me this..." He sighed. "How long do I have to break my bond with him for?" He hoped it wouldn't be forever; he would rather take death as an option.

"When Cell is finally dead I guess…" Goku answered.

"And that hopefully, won't be too long," Vegeta smirked. "Kakarot, can you sense him?"

Goku tried to look for Cell's Ki to the best of his ability but found nothing.

"Looks like he's concealing it really well."

Trunks had a long thought of what he should do to stay away from Goten, and how to be able to defeat Cell quickly, and he was still pondering on if he should go and if he is allowed to go. Goku teleported themselves back to the Son household where Chi-Chi, Goten, Whis and Beerus was sat at the table chomping on the breakfast set out.

"And just where have you three been? The food's getting cold!" Chi-Chi yelled while standing from the table quickly, making Goten stop eating and Beerus choking on his food while Whis whacked him with his staff to help him. "You should know better than to leave without eating breakfast!"

"Sorry, Chi-Chi." Goku rubbed the back of his head while sitting down at the breakfast table. "Come on, guys," He said to Trunks and Vegeta. "Tuck in, the food here is really great." The group soon found themselves stuffing their faces full. Vegeta, Beerus and Goku argued over the last piece of pancakes while Goten laughed at them. Trunks was still wondering how he was going to carry it out. He can't make it too obvious, and he can't make it last really long since he'd end up breaking down himself.

"I just need to say something really hurtful to him that will make him hate me..., but what is he sensitive to?" Trunks talked to himself while the others bickered. "Why do the Gods hate me?" He put his chin on the table.

"Who are you talking to, Trunks?" Goten asked, noticing his friend's odd behaviour ever since he arrived back from wherever he went.

"Oh… nothing. Let's go spar." Trunks said. Goten face brightened with a smile and he quickly ate his food. They then rushed into Goten's room, changed into their combat gi's and quickly made their way towards the door. And it was at that moment Chi-Chi stood in front of the doorway.

"Goten… What day is it?" Chi-Chi asked in a sweet voice. Goten thought for a moment and looked at his fingers.

"Um….Monday….Tuesday… Today's Tuesday, Mom!" Goten gleamed with a cheery face for a second before he realised why his mother was asking that question.

"And what do you do on a Tuesday?"

"Studying….." Goten grumbled and went back to his room. Trunks chuckled at Goten's plight before turning his attention to the Gods commenting on the cuisine.

"Whoa. This Chinese food is great... and the soy sauce is one of a kind. It almost feels like I'm sleeping on the otherworld's clouds." Whis exclaimed with his eyes wide open.

A thought quickly arrived in Trunks mind. He recalled what his mother said to him two days before.

/

 **FLASHBACK**

 _Bulma was busy experimenting with a new type of substance that she was sure it would protect the Z-warriors from any type of danger that was too much for them. She thought of this since the arrival of Beerus nearly had them all at King Yemma's desk, while Frieza obtained a new form that was able to give Goku a beat down of a lifetime. Not to mention that Zamasu was able to take over Son Goku's body and kill him and his entire family. Just then, Trunks walked in wondering if he could go to Goten's house to play with him._

" _Trunks, come here." Trunks obeyed and walked to his mother. Bulma held out a syringe full of the liquid. "This is a new type of weapon that we could use if someone like Frieza ever arrived on Earth. It completely inhibits any Ki usage. If I used it on myself, I'd die in mere minutes. Besides that, if I used it on you, your abilities would seemingly drop to an average human. It knocks you out for a while, and the effects will wear off for a longer duration than that. Not that any of you Saiyans seem to battle for an hour.." She gave Trunks the syringe and he stored it away in his room._

 **End of Flashback**

/

"Dad...!" Trunks ran to his father who sat at the table. He tugged his hand and pulled him outside.

"What is it?" Vegeta asked the purple-haired Saiyan, who replied by floating up to his father's heights and cupping his hand into his ear. He began to whisper to him a plan. A few agreements later, Trunks quickly flew to Capsule Corp and back. He's concealed something within his Gi and quickly went to Goten's room.

/

Math…. If there were one subject an ordinary kid would hate, it would be math. And Goten hated it. Algebra made no sense to him, squares would make a circle and he hated the repetitive calculations of money. Alas, the little Saiyan was forced to partake in the cruel world of education.

Goten scratched his head as he tackled another problem; If Michael bought a pizza box and had to share it equally to 5 of his friends, what angle must be calculated to decide how to cut the pizza? Explain by drawing a diagram.

…

Goten questioned why Michael only bought one box of pizza; surely, he could afford five!

A few minutes later, Trunks walked inside to see Goten's head on the desk. He was currently mumbling about something. Trunks walked up to him, curious as to what the little Saiyan was doing. Goten was mumbling about pizzas…causing Trunks to sigh; it was probably another question to do with angles.

"Hey, Goten." Goten's ears perked up at the familiar voice.

"Trunks! Help…." Goten grinned.

"Alright…. On one condition." Trunks paused while he thought of something. He clicked his fingers. He was sure Goten was going to hate it. "You have to be my servant for a day."

"What? No!" Goten shook his head. "I'm not doing that!" He firmly said and went back to solving the problem on his own. Trunks just sat down on his bed and waited. He knew Goten would eventually give in.

A few minutes later and, as according to Trunks' prediction, Goten already had his face planted on his desk, mumbling about pizzas.

"Fine… I'll do it." Goten surrendered. Trunks grinned and began to help Goten through the problem. It didn't take long before all the questions were solved. "Thanks, Trunks! You're the best!" Goten exclaimed, before making his way to the door.

"Not so fast, Goten." Trunks called out, making Goten stop at the door handle. "I believe you're my servant for the rest of the day." Trunks grinned. Goten sighed as he hoped that Trunks would have forgotten it.

"Fine," Goten grumbled. "You're not gonna make me do your laundry, are you?" Trunks remained silent, but Goten could see that the smirk on his face meant nothing good. "Trunks!" Goten whined.

Trunks laughed. "Relax, I won't do that. The first thing I want you to do, servant, is…" Trunks paused for effect, which made Goten tense.

"To spar with me!" Goten sighed in relief.

"As long as it's not washing laundry." Goten laughed as he raced out of the door and out of the house to go to their favourite sparring spot. Trunks followed shortly along. As he passed his father, he gave a slight nod to him before rushing out. Vegeta understood this and shortly exited the house without notice.

/

Trunks and Goten arrived at their favourite sparring ground, both dressed in their combat gi's. The field seemed to have had a makeover of craters and holes, due to the intensity of Goten and Trunks' sparring sessions, up to the point where it was inhabitable to wildlife.

"So Trunks, shall we start? I wanna show you my new moves!" Goten eagerly asked as he prepared his battle stance. Trunks smiled.

"Not just yet. I want you to turn around first." Goten glared at him.

"I know that trick, Trunks, but I'm not falling for that again!" Goten smirked.

Trunks shook his head. "But you have to obey me. You're my servant, remember?" Goten glared at him and pouted.

"That's no fair," Goten whined and turned around. "You better not kick me!"

Trunks bit his lip as he reached for the drug. "Uh…. Close your eyes as well!"

"Fine…" Goten closed his eyes. Trunks hesitated for a moment before he walked up to Goten and wrapped his arm around Goten's chest. Goten was startled by the arm around him. "Trunks? What are you doing, Trunks?" Goten asked. Trunks raised his other hand to Goten's neck and revealed the syringe to himself.

"Sorry, Goten, but it's for your own good." Trunks jabbed the syringe into Goten's neck and quickly inserted the liquid before Goten pulled it out.

"Ow, Trunks! What was that..?" Goten began to feel sleepy and found it hard to stand up. He put his hands over his head before losing consciousness. He fell forward and Trunks held him tightly.

"Sorry, Goten, but I have to do this. It's for your own good." Trunks began to carry Goten over to the nearest city, dreading of what he needed to do next. It wasn't long before he met Vegeta on a rooftop of a bar with an alleyway. Vegeta stripped down Goten to his boxers and put him in the alleyway. "Dad, are you sure he will be okay?" Trunks asked. Vegeta ruffled his offspring's hair.

"Talk to me with this when he's lead in." Vegeta gave Trunks an earpiece and took the ladder down to the floor to avoid any unwanted attention.

Goten woke up with a headache and his neck still in pain. He partially forgot what happened to him and the sudden twist of events that followed did not exactly help.

"Alright dad, he's woken up." Trunks said to his dad. "A guy is bringing him inside right now."

Goten was unable to fight back, the injection that was forcefully given to him blocked most of his strength to a mere human child.

"Looky here, boys!" The bartender announced loudly so that he had everyone's attention on him. They looked at the boy next to him. "Fresh from the field and mostly hairless. Bidding at 10k Zeni!" At least 20 hands went up and the price soon rose up to a million in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile, Goten looked very bewildered and self-conscious, as he knew he is in the process of being auctioned off solely for his body, while he also struggled to escape the clutches of the bartender.

"Why did you do this to me, Trunks?" whispered Goten in a sobbing voice. Meanwhile, Trunks just closed his eyes, just wanting Goten's ordeal to end.

"How much longer, dad?"

"Just a bit more, there are less than 10 hands now. And you should probably go into your place."

"I'm I able to get 4 million Zeni!?" The bidding almost reached the end, with two men, one bloated man and one oddly in heavy attire hands raised. The announcer put his hands on Goten shoulder and slowly slid it down his back. Goten squirmed at the motion he was making.

"5 million Zeni!" shouted the bearded man in a deep, yet hoarse voice. Silence immediately struck the bar as people looked towards the bearded man in confusion, not recognising him to be a regular customer, before they cheered loudly. He quickly signed the cheque and picked up a frightened Goten and quickly made his way out of the bar and ran out with Goten in his hands, looking back now and again, making sure that no one was following them. After a few minutes of running, he entered an old building and dropped a shivering Goten down onto the stone floor of a boarded-up room.

"P-please don't hurt me, mister.." Goten pleaded with his hands, still not being able to maximise his Ki. The prince then left the room and closed the door, leaving Goten to dread of what could come later. He could try running, yet his head was extremely dizzy to know where he was going. The rattling of heavy metal could be heard as the prince returned to the room.

Goten looked in dread as his kidnapper walked over to him and tried to cuff his hands together. Goten put up a resistance while pleading, but it proved futile for the little Saiyan. The Prince then chained together his ankles, before wrapping chains all around his torso and arms to connect to the walls. The Prince sighed as he stood back up and looked at Goten.

It reminded him of how Frieza effectively had a chain on the Saiyan race. An invisible one, nevertheless it was a chain.

To finish it off, he sealed Goten's mouth with duct tape. The child of Goku breathed heavily in fear of what could possibly come next. Vegeta then made his way out of the building, leaving Goten in the darkened room.

/

Trunks was back at Goku's house, ready to execute the final stages of his plan to break the bond between him and Goten. The Gods were at an observation point near a mountain, hidden from sight. Goku was at home, busy wondering what Vegeta and Trunks were up to.

"I can't actually believe we're taking a kid to my planet. Then again if I don't, the chances of that green thing arriving and succeeding his mission will be high, and I get no food for 2 years.." Beerus grumbled.

"Stop hiding your feelings, Lord Beerus.." Whis said.

"I am a God of Destruction! I have no feelings or compassion for mere humans, nor should they have any for me." Beerus retorted. Whis sighed and continued to view the Son household situation from his staff. Everyone was normal and would proceed like that for a while.

Trunks was busy contemplating on wherever he should have suggested that idea to Vegeta. It was too late to worry about that now. He needed to get a grip. It'd be only a matter of time before Goten was able to escape.

/

Vegeta landed outside the Son family home and walked in to find Goku sleeping on the couch.

"Oh. Who are you?" Chi-Chi questioned as the disguised Vegeta walked in. Realising that he still had his disguise on; Vegeta quickly got rid of the fake beard. "Oh! Vegeta! I almost took you as a stranger." Chi-Chi says with a surprised tone in her voice. "Why were you wearing that anyway?"

Vegeta tried to think of an answer as he walked to Goku. "Um... no reason." He grabbed Goku by the neck of his gi and dragged him outside.

"Are you sure you don't want breakfast?" Chi-Chi asked as Vegeta passed her.

"I'm sure." He replied. Meanwhile, Goku realised that he was moving without actually having to move his legs, and he opened his eyes to see himself outdoors.

"Huh?" An expression of confusion took over his face and he turned his head to see Vegeta. "Oh. Vegeta." He shot straight up into the air and landed back down. "You could've woken me instead." He said as he stretched his arms and legs.

"I need to tell you something." Vegeta lowered his voice so that Chi-Chi could not hear him. Goku closed the gap between them and carefully listened to Vegeta's explanation of the plan. Goku just had a blank expression all the way through

"D-did you really need to do that?" Goku asked and got an answer in the form of a nod.

"It's Trunks' idea. And apart from Chi-Chi and Gohan, he knows him the best."

"Hmm... so when did you say he'll be here?" Goku asked.

"No clue." Goku just stared at the sky.

/

Goten was absolutely terrified. Chained up alone in a dark place made him increasingly paranoid to every time he heard the slightest of noise, wherever it was in his head or at his surroundings. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he yearned to go home.

"Mom... Dad...Big Brother..." He cried out in his mind. Suddenly, without any warning, he heard a loud crash that came outside of the room. Cold air swept into the room and he instantly froze. He shivered as the crept onto his bare skin, while also fearing a shadow that seemed to make its way towards Goten, yet nothing was around that could possibly cause it.

Goten whimpered as it crept closer to him and his breathing rate started to increase rapidly. In a desperate attempt, he tried once again to break the cuffs and chains around his ankles and body; all to no avail. He started to yell out muffled screams as he had his

And then to his horror, a large black hand stained with blood emerged from the shadow and open its palm towards Goten. An eyeball opened up, frightening Goten even more. The hand then lunged itself at Goten and engulfed him in complete darkness. It felt like something heavy sat all over his body.

Goten closed his eyes and let out a muffled, yet lengthy scream while his heart started pounding furiously.

"MOM! DAD!" He tried to yell out but was muffled by the duct tape. Hyperventilation overtook his system of breathing as he opened his eyes, and found nothing but himself in the same room. Both the hand and shadow disappeared without a trace of them ever existing. Goten looked around the room frantically. His body felt hot and was entirely covered in sweat.

"I just want to go home..." He cried quietly in his mind and looked up at the ceiling, as the cold breeze blew against his small, pale body.

Then a miracle came to him. Goten slowly felt his original strength come back to him. Enough for him to break apart the chains and cuffs. As the cattle of metal fell onto the floor, he stood up and quickly made his way outside, while still freezing from the bitterly cold wind. He quickly scanned the outside.

This part of the city seemed abandoned to Goten. There were more trees and grass than actual functional buildings, and those buildings had either wooden planks nailed over their doors or holes in their walls. Goten sniffed and looked around for the person who brought him here. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and felt for any nearby Ki signatures, but felt nobody nearby.

Wiping his tears, he felt for his mother's energy and flew high into the sky, despite the low temperatures he faced. He could not bear the embarrassment of people seeing him without any clothes.

/

Back at the Son household, Chi-Chi and Bulma were in an idle gossip about their twin demons. Beerus and Whis had already gone home.

"So your little man took up a hunger strike because he wanted a new toy." Chi-Chi laughed with Bulma.

"And Goten joined in as well. It was called off after Vegeta threatened to throw them both into the gravity chamber." Bulma snickered.

Suddenly, the front door slammed open, and Goten quickly ran in, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Mom!" Goten cried out as he jumped onto Chi-Chi and wrapped his pale arms around her neck, and sobbed. Chi-Chi was caught surprised by her son's sudden entrance. She wrapped her around him, only to discover he barely had any clothes on.

"Go-Goten?" She quickly carried him to his room and wrapped his blanket around him. His skin was ice to the human touch. Bulma also followed them. The only thing on their faces was concern and confusion. "Goten? What's wrong? Where are your clothes? Why are you so cold?" Chi-Chi started her barrage of questions, motherly instincts taking over her mind. The only response that the mother of two received was never-ending tears.

/

Goku sighed. He wasn't used to hearing his son cry without an easy solution to make him smile again.

"Mmmm..." He tilted his head to the side. "What should I do? On one hand, I want to train, but on the other hand, my mind is telling me to go to Goten." He folded his arms and tapped his chin. "What do you think, Vegeta?" Goku turned to the Saiyan Prince for advice.

"Tch. You may be pure at heart, but you make a terrible father."

"Eh?"

/

 **A few hours later**

Chi-Chi and Bulma were sat by Goten's bed as the demi-Saiyan managed to pass out by crying. A fresh set of clothes were put on him by Chi-Chi and they patiently waited for him to wake up.

Ever so slightly, he began to stir and moan.

"M...mommy...?" Goten blinked and looked around the room. Judging by the yellow rays of sunlight shining into his room, he figured that the night would soon overtake day.

"Goten? What happened to you?" Chi-Chi shifted herself closer. Everything that happened today caught up with him, and a fresh set of tears streamed down his cheeks.

"It was...T...T.." Goten stuttered with pauses of sniffing and sobbing. "Trunks." Chi-Chi and Bulma's eyes furrowed. "W-we only... went out...to sp-sp-spar.. and he...he held me... and put something.. into my n-neck. Then... I don't know what happened...next. I woke up... and found myself... without my gi... and those men...a-at a bar... said they w-wanted me. I couldn't fight back... Someone b-bought me... and then ch-chained me inside a building..." He shows the red marks around his wrists and ankles. Chi-Chi grabbed him into a tight hug and started to fight back tears herself.

Bulma couldn't believe what she was hearing. Trunks? Capable of doing this? What for? "I'm going to find him." Bulma stood up and walked out of the room.

Goten went into another fit of sobbing and shaking. "It's okay, Goten. You're safe now." Chi-Chi said in a soothing voice as she stroked the back of Goten's spiky hair.

/

A few hours passed where the sun had disappeared, and Trunks observed this. On the horizon, storm clouds seem to be brewing but are far away from Trunks' position. Nevertheless, he felt the gust of the wind hit him full force. He crossed his arms and stared angrily into the distance.

Cell and the other person was going to pay for this.

He flared up his ki, a clear, white aura emitted from him and flowed just as it regularly would.

At the Son house, Goten was in his room staring at the stars that twinkled in the night. His innocent mind was filled with doubt. Surely Trunks couldn't have done all of that. His mind constantly thought of excuses as to why Trunks' wasn't at fault. Maybe Trunks was possessed. Maybe Trunks tried to save him, but someone else got to him instead. The countless excuses generated tired him out. Chi-Chi was currently making dinner for him, though she wondered where Goku disappeared to. As Goten was on the verge of nodding off, he felt the familiar burst of Ki.

"Trunks...?" Goten muttered and his eyes opened up fully; the fatigue that once weighed on them no longer existed. He hesitated for a moment before he jumped from his bed and put his shoes on, before running outside.

"Goten? Where are you going?" Chi-Chi asked as she saw Goten quickly rush past her. "Goten!" She yelled and ran outside, only to see him flying off. Just then, by sheer coincidence, Bulma landed her ship.

"Come on, Chi-Chi!" Bulma yelled out to her. Chi-Chi jumped into the ship and sat down before Bulma took off at full speed after him.

Goten was considerably faster than the ship so he managed to create a fair distance between himself and them. He squinted his eyes as he searched the ground, but managed to pick out a faint light emitting on top of a mountain that overlooked the rest of the landscape. He quickly descended and took care of landing.

"Trunks?" Goten looked at him, who had his back turned.

Trunks let out a quiet sigh. "It's time." He spoke to himself in his mind. It was at that moment when Trunks' limits were put to the test. The focus he had for decimating Cell was momentarily forgotten when he heard these words spoken out of Goten's mouth.

Goten let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad. I thought that whoever taken me had kidnapped you as well, but I'm glad to see you here." Trunks took in a large breath before exhaling while closing his eyes for a second. "But what are you doing here? Mom made food and it's gonna get cold if you don't come."

Trunks was silent for a few seconds, leaving Goten slightly confused.

"Goten..." Trunks started. The little one slowly tuned in. "There was nobody there but us." The clouds in the distance began to rumble.

Goten took the information in slowly. "You... you mean..." His voice started to shake. "Why, Trunks?" Goten asked while trying to hold back his tears in his eyes. "Why did you leave me to those thugs? T-they wanted to feel me... a-and hurt me. Why, Trunks?"

Trunks forced a smirk and revealed a wad of notes waving in the air, before turning around to face him. It became 100 times harder for Trunks to continue the facade, now having a clear view of Goten. He walked around Goten while keeping eye contact to an absolute minimum. "Come on, Goten. You didn't really think that I actually cared about you? Because, newsflash, I don't. You're a lower class disgrace while I actually hold royal blood within my veins. I am superior to you." He scowled harshly at him in his ear. "You're a gay, damned bastard, probably spending his remaining days an outcast. People will scowl at you at every way and probably be ashamed to look at someone like you. No one will ever accept you." Trunks then turn his back to him and walked away, hoping to leave a mentally stricken and grieving Goten to deal with his thoughts and finally able to stop with putting up the whole facade.

However, he knew this was Goten and not Goku or a kid he was lying to.

"Liar..." Goten muttered just loud enough for Trunks to pick up. "I don't believe a single word that just came out of your mouth!" His voice then increased in volume into a shout as Trunks stopped in his track. "I know that Trunks that might be a little selfish but I don't believe that he'll go that far!" He firmly walks to Trunks and places both of his hands on his arms. Trunks still had his back turned to him. Annoyed, and slightly angry, Goten shook him vigorously. "Tell me the truth, Trunks!" Trunks, taken aback by Goten's assertiveness and panicked, as he wasn't sure what to do. "Trunks!" He yelled at him.

"Do you want proof?"

In a last-ditch attempt, he formed a Ki blast in his hand and fired it straight through Goten's side. The youngling fell backwards onto the ground, immobile, while blood leaked onto the ground.

* * *

 **Please leave a review :D**


	4. Off to Planet Beerus!

**Chapter 4: Off to Planet Beerus! Unlock your Saiyan potential, Trunks!**

 **Flashback from two years ago**

Everyone was at Capsule Corp, ready to set off back home after one of Goten's birthday, which was really fun yet disastrous as the boys doubled teamed on the Z-fighters with water pistols and managed to soak them thoroughly. Goten and Trunks were alone outside on the lawn and were both giggling of the day's events that they caused. When it was time to go, Goten suddenly remembered to give something to Trunks, something he wouldn't be to get off his chest for tomorrow.

"What is it, Goten?" Trunks asked while getting a handkerchief to wipe some of the cake from Goten on the side of his lips.

"I, uh.." Goten pulled out a folded paper from his pocket and began to read it. "I wrote a short letter for you."

"For me?" Trunks sounded relatively surprised. Goten wasn't the one to actually think and put thought into something like a letter deeply.

"To my best friend Trunks." Goten began reading his letter he spent months writing to Trunks as a sign of appreciation. Of course, Trunks knew Goten appreciated everything to the point that he'd help the poorest of the world by giving them presents, food and money, even though he was from a poor family itself. And it wasn't for any obligations of faith, morals, or the constant bickering of his mother, it was because he was simply Goten. A simple boy willing to lend a hand to others without reason. Exactly like his father, maybe better. Trunks was curious as to what was so interesting to Goten about him.

"While my status was low, and frowned and mocked upon by others, you came to me and protected my honour." Trunks began to think of what that meant until he remembered..

 **Flashback**

" _Oh.. look at that cast-off over there." A man of upper-cl, currently having a picnic with his rest of his family at a well-known park, sneered at Goten, who was strolling through the park waiting for Trunks to show up. Goten turned his head to look at the bloke. "Yeah. You. You're soiling the park with those wretched, paper shoes you're wearing."_

" _Hey! My mom got me these shoes just a week ago!" Goten shouted back._

" _Where from? The garbage?!" They all laughed mockingly at Goten, who just carried on walking, embarrassed. Unfortunately, he was pelted with food by them, causing him to walk away quicker with his hands together, making him upset. Just then, Goten heard a scream from one of them and turned around to see the man flying above him into a nearby public bin._

" _It's not very nice to mock my friend like that.." A child tutted, his voice was all too familiar to Goten as he came to him, put an arm around his shoulders and walked along with him._

" _Trunks..." Goten frowned as they made their way further into the green field._

" _What? I wasn't going to let them insult you like that and let them get away with it." Trunks said sternly. "If you're worried about what your mom is going to do, I'll take the blame." He places his tanned hands on his friend's shoulders. "That's what friends are for, right?" Goten just looked down, then wrapped his arms around him, catching Trunks off-guard._

" _I'm really lucky to have someone like you around.." He smiled as Trunks wrapped his arms around him as well._

"You've kept me cool and fed, whenever I've come over to play and had hardly any money on me."

Trunks and Goten were lying on the grass just on the city outskirts after playing a game of tag, which resulted in a close victory for Trunks. The boys were currently battling against the heatwave the sun seemed to curse the entire city with. An idea sprung into Trunks' head and he grinned at Goten. The latter looked at Trunks with curiosity in his mind. "How does an ice cream sundae sound?"

"Umm.. but.." Trunks started to fly to the nearest ice cream store, ignoring what his friend had to say, while Goten just quietly followed along. Once they were at the store, Trunks browsed through the various, exotic ice cream flavours, while Goten just sat at a table, looking at a single coin he pulled from his pocket and fiddled with it with a sigh. That would be his pocket money for the month or so.

"At least the shade will cool me down." He mumbled to himself and then heard a thump next to him. He lifted his head to see a chocolate sundae in front of him. "Huh?" He looked above it to see Trunks' face that had a grin plastered on it.

"Eat up before it melts, Goten." Trunks took a seat next to him.

"But.. why? I can't pay you back." Goten frowned.

"Who said you needed to? That's what friends are for, right?" Trunks punched him playfully on his arm. Goten just looked at him with his pair of black orbs. A smile began to form on his face.

"When things looked bleak, and when I was at the point of despair, you came and managed to reignite that flare."

 _Goten's tears fell onto the pure, white floor of the hyperbolic time chamber as he clenched his fists, upset that his strength was improving at a snail's pace, as well as unable to avenge his mother's and brother's death. He made his way to the time chamber door to exit. Clouds of black full of hate and revenge hindered his rational thinking. As his hand clenched the door handle, another hand went on top of his. Goten looked at Trunks, who slowly shook his head, telling Goten not to go. Trunks felt Goten's hand shake before more tears streamed down his face as Goten grabbed him and sobbed into his green gi._

" _How... How am I going to face them?" Goten's voice shook as he asked. "What if we don't beat him?"_

 _Trunks just rubbed the former's back, trying to soothe him. "We will beat him. I'm completely sure of it. After all, I have you and you have me, and together with that new fusion trick up our sleeve, we'll definitely beat him. I believe in you, Goten.. even your father, mother and Gohan believes in you." Trunks pulls away and looks firmly into his eyes. "But doing anything drastic will be our own downfall and might… no.. will cost us this victory. We still have a good amount of months left to train. So..." He held out a hand. "Let's make it count, and do it together, Goten!"_

 _Goten wiped away his tears with a sleeve, before grasping Trunks hand with his own. "Yes, Trunks." They both grinned._

" _And thank you.." He added the last part in his mind as Trunks went to the fridge to get something to eat._

"And you manage to make the holidays even more special to me than they already are!"

 _The sound of a blizzard could be held outside from the Son house window. They were trapped in... mostly because to keep the cold out but also because of Chi-Chi's constant worrying to keep Goten inside in case he might catch a cold. Goku was busy training with Whis and Gohan stayed indoors with Videl and Pan, leaving Goten and Chi-Chi by themselves._

" _Well, Goten. Looks like it's just you and mommy!" Goten cheered after hearing that; all the board games, delicious, hot chocolate, movies and stories they could tell._

 _Could've._

 _If only Chi-Chi hadn't caught a cold shortly after she said that. Therefore, Goten had the idea of taking his mom's place while she rested._

 _At least, he tried to..._

 _Problem was that Goten didn't how to cook, and had the occasional hiccups with cleaning. It didn't take a while for Chi-Chi to hear the crashing of pots and pans from the kitchen._

" _Goten sweetie, are you okay? Chi-Chi asked with a hoarse voice, worried that Goten might've hurt himself._

" _I'm fine, mom. Don't worry." Goten replied. More crashing was heard, followed by a "Who turned out the lights?" from Goten._

 _Chi-Chi shook her head and shortly after, a knock came from the door. Deciding that Goten had enough troubles, Chi-Chi went to open it with a blanket wrapped around her, and stood on the doorstep in the thick, nighttime blizzard, was Goten's best friend, wrapped in a dark blue snow coat and scarves._

" _Oh... Trunks! What a surprise!" Trunks bowed._

" _Hello, Miss Chi-Chi." Chi-Chi quickly pushed him in, already feeling the icy winds penetrating the layers of cloths around her, and shut the door._

" _What brings you here? To meet Goten, I presume?" Chi-Chi asked with a suspicious, yet cheery voice. Trunks grinned, then realised the hoarseness of her voice, as well as the blanket around her._

" _Are you sick?" He held her hand and led her to the couch._

" _Yes... And Goten is helping me get better." She lightly chuckled. "Keep an eye on him will you, Trunks?" She laid on the couch and quickly fell asleep._

 _More crashing could be heard from the kitchen, causing Trunks to quickly go and investigate. In the kitchen, he saw Goten trying to find his way around as his field of vision was blocked by a pot stuck on his head. Trunks rolled his eyes and went over to get the pot off him. The youngest blinked around, adjusting his eyes to the light before resting it on Trunks. "Oh hi, Trunks. What are you doing here?"_

" _Uh... never mind that! What are you doing?" Trunks asked, avoiding Goten's question entirely._

 _Goten smiled sheepishly. "I was going to make something for mom, but then I remembered that I didn't know how to cook."_

 _Trunks face-palmed himself; Goten did have a habit of doing things without thinking it through. He helped pick up the pots and pans before turning back to Goten. "So... what were you planning to make?" Trunks asked._

" _Uh..." Goten tilted his head and put on his thinking face before he sweatdropped with a smile. "I don't actually remember.." Trunks shook his head and then smiled at the naïve behaviour of Goten._

" _You're really a hassle to deal with, you know?" Goten just grinned. "Alright. I'll help you. How does a hot tomato soup sound?" Goten licked his lips._

" _That sounds delicious!" Goten exclaimed._

 _In addition, for the past two hours or so, the boys were busy cooking up the tomato soup, with off-key Christmas carols sung by both of them. Chi-Chi took the soup and smiled when she tasted it. The smooth liquid slithered down her throat, soothing it and the thickness of the soup was just right. The boys then went to watch a mixture of Christmas and horror (Trunks' preference), causing Goten to hide behind Trunks numerous times._

" _You're such a chicken, Goten." Mocked the older._

" _I'm not!" protested the younger. "It's just... scary for me."_

 _Midnight came in a breeze; the blizzard was still raging on outside of the Son house. The movie ended with one last jump-scare, keeping Trunks temporarily awake._

" _Wow. That's was scary. Right, Goten?" Trunks received no answer as he yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Goten?" Trunks felt something clutching his back and he turned to see Goten clutching on the sweater he wore and laid his head on his back, fast asleep. Trunks chuckled and lifted him onto his back. Trunks then tiptoed to Goten's room and laid him on his bed before he went back out to see the decorated Christmas tree Goku had chopped down from a distant mountain. He took out two Capsules and threw them under the tree, ready for a long night of labelling._

"And it was that fateful day where I discovered the real Santa." They both giggled as Goten said that.

 _Goten woke up in the middle of the night feeling that something was off. Trunks had disappeared next to him, making Goten curious as to where he went. Some ruffling of paper heard from the living room, causing the young Saiyan to stand up from his bed, slightly scared, and proceeded to investigate. He quietly walked outside his room and to the living room to find a small, purple-haired individual stacking up the presents._

 _Goten thought it was a thief, so he quickly ran over and punched the individual away onto the couch. Goten furrowed his eyebrows before he came to realise who it actually was._

" _T-Trunks?" Trunks lay upside down on the couch, just looking over at Goten with shock. Why was he awake at this time? "Why are you here, Trunks? It's so late in the night and..." The younger Saiyan looked back at the presents, wondering why Trunks was messing with them. He knelt down and examined a label while also taking note of a marker next to it, before looking back at Trunks._

" _Trunks..."_

 _Trunks sighed as he sat upright on the couch. He'd been caught in the act. "Yeah... I kinda lied about Santa. Oof!" Trunks fell back on the couch as Goten tackled him into a hug._

" _So you're my Santa!" He laughed. "How do you do that late in the night? I'd fall asleep if I tried to do it."_

" _It's pretty easy. I'm older than you so I need less sleep." Trunks smirks as he embraced him as well._

" _I see... I wish I was older." Goten yawned as his voice became softer. "Then... I'd be... Santa... as well." Trunks quietly chuckled as he sensed Goten on the verge of nodding off._

" _Goten, are you awake enough to go to your bed?" He received a shaking from Goten's head. "You big baby." He stands back up with Goten still clutching him._

" _I'm... not…a...baby..." Goten protested slightly with a yawn while holding onto Trunks tightly._

" _Yes, you are." He carries him to his room. Goten moaned as he rested his head on Trunks' shoulder. Trunks enters his bedroom and carefully rests Goten's back on the bed. He then tries to break the lock Goten made with his arms around him._

" _I'm... not..." Goten says in a low voice and he gives a slight smirk at Trunks. "Besides, it's late."_

 _Trunks let out a long sigh."...Fine... you win." He gives up and lies next to him. "I'll do the rest in the morning."_

" _Good night, Trunks." Goten smiled while he closed his eyes, while still keeping Trunks locked with his arms._

" _Good night, Goten."_

/

"And so, while it may be that we have our occasional arguments amongst even the littlest matters ever known to man, it's without a doubt that you've been there throughout every step of my life. And so, as to complete my part of our friendship, I will not disappoint you in these upcoming years. Because even if you may somewhat have that attitude of Uncle Vegeta, and have the face of your future self, you'll still be Trunks to me; my first, dearest friend I met with the blessings of the Gods."

Goten finished his letter, with his face glowing bright, only to see Trunks rubbing his eyes furiously in front of him.

"I'm sorry I made you sad, Trunks." Goten said apologetically.

"Oh shut up, you big goof!" Trunks pulled Goten into a crushing, yet warming hug, never wanting to let go of his friend or what gift he managed to put together just for him, and it wasn't even his birthday.

"Trunks.. I can't breathe." Goten tried to say without causing the pain to be obvious from his voice.

"Sorry." Trunks loosened his hug, but it was still a tight hug between the two. In the sky, two Saiyan warriors viewed the scene while concealing their Ki.

"Aw, my son really loves your son a lot. He even wrote a letter to show how much he cares about him." Goku said, gladly relieved that he was in his son's life. Otherwise, he'd be missing out on a lot. Vegeta just grunted at the sight of having his royal son bond with a lower class wretch.

 **End of Flashback**

"Goten!" Chi-Chi jumped from the ship as she, along with Bulma, arrived to see what Goten was up to, only to see Goten lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood and Trunks blasting off into the sky. Chi-Chi ran to the side of Goten and knelt down, futilely trying to stop the bleeding by placing her hands on his wound. Bulma landed her ship and jumped to see the kid's condition.

"Chi-Chi, quickly get him into the ship!" Bulma shouted at her. Chi-Chi lifted her youngest son up into her arms and rushed into the ship. Bulma then entered her ship urgently and quickly set off at full speed towards Capsule Corp.

/

Trunks landed in front of Goku and Vegeta and lowered his head. He clenched his fist in anger. "I want to fight Cell as well!" Goku's eyes widened.

"Oh? You also want to have a shot at him?" Goku grinned. "Well, you can!"

"Hey! He's my son, Kakarot! I'll be making the decisions." Vegeta scowled at his Saiyan counterpart, before turning to Trunks. "If you're 100% serious about fighting him, you'll have to adhere to these conditions: Firstly, I have the first shot at Cell. Secondly, you have to be able to go toe to toe with me without transforming."

"...Isn't that a little much?" Goku interjected.

"I'll do it." Trunks said with a furious determination.

"Oh. I guess that sorts it." Goku shrugged. "Say, Whis can train him while he's looking after him."

Trunks had a puzzled expression on his face. "Huh? But.." He was cut off by Goku teleporting them both to Planet Beerus.

/

"Goten? Goten, please open the door." Gohan pleaded for his brother to let him enter, but it just wasn't working. He knew what happened; Chi-Chi had called him over to Capsule Corp but did not know why Trunks did it. Goten was hit mentally hard by the sudden events he faced today. He narrowly missed being raped...again... and found out that his most trusted person set him up for other people to rape him while he never knew it for years, just for money. His words struck his head like a giant rusted arrow, clouding his mind with denial, sorrow, insecurity.

"Trunks can't do this... he's joking... Yeah! He's joking. He can never do that to me..." he tried to assure himself. He was laying against the wall. His room was bright, opposite to what his emotions were.

"You're a gay, damned bastard..." He heard Trunks' voice inside his head, followed by the sound of a Ki blast firing.

"No... that's not true." He yelled to himself and clutched his bandaged wound. "It's not true.." he curled himself into a ball, slowly drowning himself into a deep sleep full of sorrow.

When Gohan managed to find a spare key, he unlocked the door to see his younger brother asleep on the floor, still whimpering from the thoughts in his mind. Carefully, Gohan picked up his younger brother and placed him on a bed while running his fingers through his black, spiky hair.

"I wish I could do something to help you, little bro." Gohan whispered to himself. He still couldn't comprehend how Trunks could actually have done that to him.

/

On Planet Beerus, Beerus' eyes closed very slowly as he sat on a chair overlooking the lake. The gentle breeze made him feel very sleepy. "I suppose now would be a good time for a nap." He yawned and closed his eyes. His mind drifted to sleep.

"Yo!" Beerus jumped up and his eyes shot open at the sudden shout.

"What?!" He turned his head to the direction where he heard the voice. "Hey! How many times have I said for you to not startle me like that!"

Goku scratched his head with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Lord Beerus. Where's Whis?"

"He's gardening! Eh?" His gaze lowered to Trunks. "What's he doing here?"

"Oh. Whis offered to babysit him." Beerus eyes widened at the revelation.

"What!? Whis!" Beerus called for him, sending out a shockwave of air in all directions.

"Yes, Lord Beerus?" Whis appeared behind him as he held a trowel that had a fully-grown tree on it.

"Why are you engaging in babysitting duties?" Beerus asked him. "I did not approve of this!"

"Lord Beerus, there are a lot of rooms in this castle. Surely you spare one." Whis looked away, smiling.

Beerus then turned his head back to the Saiyans. "What did you bribe him with?"

"Uh….. an all-you-can-eat buffet," Goku replied.

"What?! Well if you're promising that to him, I demand it as payment!" The group gulped and nodded. "Well then…" Beerus yawned and stretched. "I think I'll rest for a while." He shot a death glare at the group. "Don't you dare disturb me." Beerus made his way back to the castle.

"Alright, first things first. Goku and Vegeta, you are going to start with chores. Trunks will stay with me for some training." Whis ordered.

"Yes, Lord Whis!" Goku and Vegeta replied and soon began to cut grass. Trunks was amazed that his father was actually following orders while at home he would get constantly nagged at by Bulma to at least help with chores. He ignored those words every time.

With Goku…. He was sure Chi-Chi would be mad.

"I'll beat ya, Vegeta!"

"No one beats a prince, Kakarot!" The duo exchanged their normal bickering while working.

"Trunks, come with me." Whis said. They walked to the edge of Planet Beerus where they stopped on a pink path. Whis created a cylinder block of iron with two holes at the top.

"Today we are going to start with something simple. We need you to raise your power level by a large amount if you want to catch up to your father. Simply put your arms into the slot and lift up. Maybe I should give you something more comfortable and durable to wear." Whis created a small gi costume similar to his old one. Only that it was a dark shade of green with orange stripes around the ankles and the shoulder sleeves with the mark of Whis' signature on the left of the torso. He also wore a purple, sleeveless undershirt. His boots were coloured ocean blue with dark purple stripes running down on the side. Trunks noticed that he had two bands on his wrists; one was orange, saying Goten while the other was purple saying Trunks. He forced his tears back.

"Thank you, Whis." Trunks said.

"Just make sure Beerus doesn't know I made it," Whis whispered while giggling. "Now, let's start." Trunks obeyed and slid his hands into the block and started to lift up. It took a few seconds for him to get it off the ground. Whis was impressed with the amount of time it took for him to lift it. Even though his weights were considerably smaller than Vegeta's and Goku's, in theory, it should have taken for him at least a minute to lift it.

"Alright, now start running!" Whis commanded. Trunks had trouble moving as he managed to take his first step, but his mind kept telling him to push on if he wanted to defeat Cell. By a minute, he was able to run at a constant pace.

"Amazing.." Whis stared at him. Just then, Goku and Vegeta appeared to report to Whis for any more jobs that needed doing when they spotted a boy running on the track with weights.

"That can't be Trunks; he's running faster than us when we did the track, Vegeta!" Goku laughed uneasily.

"His weights are lower than yours, but with his power level in mind, this is astonishing," Whis stated.

"How come you aren't making the path disappear?" Vegeta asked.

"I make the path disappear to push you two to your limits. Whatever is on his mind has him pushing to his utmost limits better than my disappearing path." Goku and Vegeta stared in amazement as Trunks reached 1/8 of the way in less than 5 minutes. "Come along, you two. You're next." Whis created two similar objects only with a larger mass. "Off you go you two." The fathers obeyed and slid their hands into the objects before lifting them and started to walk along the path.

Trunks was sweating and breathing heavily to the point where his chest had started to hurt, but he would not dare try to drop his pace. He had to do it for Goten's sake.

"Good heavens, he hasn't slowed down one bit," Whis muttered as Trunks passed the 4/8 mark. However, the vigorous training was starting to take its effect, Trunks' arms and legs began to strain, and his head covered with sweat as he carried on. His pace was also starting to drop. It was the 6/8 mark where he finally stopped in exhaustion. Goku and Vegeta soon caught up with him and walked past him while they yelled.

"Come on, Trunks! Or you'll fall in and never return!" Goku yelled at him as they ran past. Trunks questioned what Goku said until he heard the path disappearing behind him.

"Aaaah! Wait for me!" Trunks started to run again, this time to save himself. The Oracle Fish made its irregular entrance and landed on the ground with a thud.

"It's that time of the day again."

"Alright then." He taps his staff on the ground and the three are transported beside Beerus' bedside.

"Crap!" They all squeaked.

"This is disgusting! Unforgivable!" Beerus shouted in his sleep and fired a wave from his mouth and blasted Vegeta, Goku and Trunks into a wall, knocking Trunks unconscious while Vegeta and Goku groaned in pain.

"Oh… Same results." Whis sighed.

/

An hour later, Whis prepared the next training session. The trio was at the vast lake.

"Good. Now you two are going to lecture Trunks about God ki, while I prepare our training session."

"What?" Goku was puzzled, but Whis was already gone. The trio made their way towards the exit while trying to explain what God Ki was.

"God Ki... is..." Goku began but had little knowledge of what it actually was. Trunks sighed and asked his father. But even he didn't exactly know what it was.

"Maybe we should start with a question. How do both of you transform into Super Saiyan Blue?" Trunks asked.

"Ah! Firstly, you need to learn how to power up while keeping your Ki inside of you so your opponents don't sense it. Then when you hit a high enough power level, you are able to activate it I guess... Vegeta and I first got a glimpse of it when we were sparring. I guess you can also call it Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan." Goku managed to at the very least, explain how Super Saiyan Blue was activated.

"That's a dumb name." Trunks said.

"I was low on ideas." Goku admitted.

They found Whis, who was busy preparing the next training session for Goku and Vegeta. He handed them the cream coloured suits that put immense pressure on your body. "You two put these on and do your regular press-ups. At least 100000 of it. After that, trying fighting each other in it." The two nodded and found a place to start their press-ups.

"Trunks, did they teach you anything about God Ki?" Whis asked while raising an eye at Goku and Vegeta.

"Well they couldn't really explain what it was, so I just asked about Super Saiyan blue and I guess from their information, it's all about Ki control."

"I'm impressed; you managed to interpret it solely from their words. You certainly inherited your smartness from your mother." Trunks slightly blushed.

"Now, let's see how much stamina you possess.." Whis entered into a defensive stance "Alright, I just need you to try to hit me in your normal form." Trunks entered into his fighting stance, observing Whis openings. He knew this wouldn't be easy since he heard that Beerus was knocked out with one hit from him. Nevertheless, he wouldn't back down. He charged at Whis and began to throw punches and kicks at him. However, Whis dodged them effortlessly. He managed to grab Trunks leg and threw him into a lake. "Come on, Trunks, you can't be tired already." Trunks charged with a yell as he unleashed another volley of kicks and punches. Suddenly, he thought of an idea and phased out from view before reappearing charging at Whis' left. Whis dodged the attack from the left then from the right as he quickly noticed that Trunks had left an afterimage attacking from the left. Trunks then came at him from the back with a punch to the back, and according to his plan, Whis moved back and Trunks released an energy wave extending and bending towards Whis by Trunks hand, which almost hit Whis in the chest.

"Impressive.." Whis thought in his mind.

/

"Trunks did what?!" Bulma yelled out after Goten had told Gohan what Trunks said. "That's not Trunks! I won't believe it!" Bulma yelled. Chi-Chi and Gohan knew that Bulma wouldn't believe it, but they would at least try.

"I wouldn't have believed it either, but Goten wouldn't lie like that. Gohan said with sadness in his tone.

"How can Trunks hurt my Goten like that?" Chi-Chi cried. "It makes no sense."

Bulma rubbed her temple. "Let Goten sleep here for the night if he wishes. I have no idea where Trunks is.."

Meanwhile, Goten was sleeping peacefully, dreaming of that day where he made friends with Trunks.

 **Flashback**

 _Goten was six years old at the time while Trunks was seven. The two weren't always the best of friends. They often bickered and fought over each other for the tiniest things such as broken toys, snacks, food, fathers and status. One sunny day, Chi-Chi brought Goten to Capsule Corp in another attempt for the boys to bond together. Unfortunately, it didn't work as the boys ended up fighting over an insult. Trunks was dressed in a green hoody and a pair of grey shorts while Goten was dressed casually in his traditional clothes._

" _Goten, you're so stupid." Trunks said after both he and Goten fought outside with Goten ending up on the floor._

" _Well you're no better; you fell for two of my same tricks in a row," Goten growled at him and vice versa. They both fought again as the mothers look at both of them._

 _Bulma sighed. "Do you think they'll ever get along with each other?" She took a sip out of her coffee._

" _Hopefully they do. Although I don't want them to fight, something evil will strike again inevitably." Chi-Chi took a sip out of her tea, overlooking the boys struggle against each other, with neither having an advantage. "Alright, Goten, Trunks. Stop fighting!" The boys instantly obeyed Chi-Chi, for they all knew her secret weapon of doom; the frying pan._

" _Urgh, whatever. I'm going to go find my dad." Trunks said as he flew off._

" _Your dad stinks!"_

" _So does yours!"_

 _The two yelled insults at each other while the mothers just drank their beverages._

 _After 3 hours, Goten finally got bored of running through Trunks' stuff in his room._

" _Why is the room so full of junk?" Goten whined though he was secretly jealous of how much toys Trunks had._

" _Why can't I have something like this?" Goten was clearly not enjoying his day at Capsule Corp. He already has a bandage on his face after it got cut by his ruffling with Trunks. With it, another bandage was applied over that bandage. "Mom can be so overprotective at times." He thought as he looked inside his pocket._

" _Goten! Can you search for Trunks' ki and find him for me, please? Tell him that his mother wants him home!" Bulma yelled to Trunks. Goten was reluctant but agreed to it since she was her dad's friend. He went out and quickly ran to Trunks' location. However, he noticed Trunks' ki feeling slightly different, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He soon arrived in a forest with a small water spring reflecting on the trees, giving a sense of awe to whoever would set their eyes on it._

" _But... this is my place..." Goten thought. He grunted and was prepared to fight Trunks again to leave this place if need be. As he ventured further into the forest, Goten came closer to the ki signature and he heard quiet noises of sobbing. He walked into the tree's shadow to hide Trunks curled up, crying._

 _That was a first for Goten; he never saw Trunks cry before. This spiked the younger Saiyan's curiosity and he ventured out of the shadows. Trunks looked up, saw Goten, and quickly turned away his face. Goten ventured closer to him and sat beside him. He stared at the purple haired Saiyan for a minute or two, before he brought out his handkerchief and turned Trunks head gently so he was facing him to wipe away his tears. Somehow, his own actions managed to confuse himself and Trunks._

" _Don't cry, Trunks." Trunks was shocked at the delicate tone of Goten's voice. He never saw him act like that. His heart softened as Goten pulled him into a long embrace. Trunks never had comfort from another person; usually, it was only his mom after he had done something to annoy Vegeta. The warmth of Goten's body calmed him and he relaxed, his tensions fading away from his muscles. His breathing became more relaxed as he took deep breaths of the forest to help calm him. After a few minutes of prolonged silence with the background of birds singing in the trees, Goten had decided to break the silence._

" _What happened, Trunks?" Goten asked softly._

" _I broke a training gear of my dad's by accident, and he got mad at me and yelled at me." Trunks said in a soft voice._

" _Oh.." Goten said while ending the embrace and putting an arm around Trunks. "Well, that isn't bad. Your mom always says that your dad does too much training." He and Trunks chuckled._

" _Yeah..." Trunks relaxed his head on the tree trunk behind._

" _By the way, I didn't say you could come to this place." Goten stood up and crossed his arms. Trunks just looked confused. "This is where I go to if I want to be alone." The spikey haired Saiyan walked over to the spring and knelt down beside it. The illuminating light brought by the spring made his face glow as he peered into it. The spring was completely clear, apart from some plants that were growing in there._

 _Trunks tilted his head. "Why?"_

 _Goten then shuffled himself into a cross-legged sitting position._

" _Sometimes, I wish my dad would come back. Mom and Gohan are always sad whenever they see me. Sometimes they smile and say I look too much like my own father for my own good, but they feel sad." He smiled sadly. "I also want to meet him; Gohan keeps on saying he's a cool person. If Dad comes back, mom and Gohan will be happy again." He reached into his pocket and fished out a coin. He closed his eyes and kissed it before he threw it into the centre of the spring. Trunks raised an eyebrow._

" _How come you did that?" Trunks asked before his eyes watched in amazement of how the spring began to give out white sparks. The light given out seems to have brightened ever so slightly._

" _I read stories that say that there are magical springs like these across the world, and if you keep offering it a coin with a pure wish, it'll come true," Goten said as he watched his coin sink to the top of the coin pile. The spring did indeed have coins ranging from 1, 10, 50, 100 and 500 Zeni coins. "I just want him to come home..." Goten softly said as the smile on the face ceased to exist, and was replaced with a mournful expression. He lowered his gaze and continued to watch the miniature waves crash against the rocks; all of which seemed to have been arranged into a pattern._

 _A short moment passed before Goten heard something fall into the spring. His gaze went to the splash area, before the pair of black orbs locked onto the coin that slowly floated to the bottom._

" _Who..." Goten turned his gaze towards Trunks, who was busy staring at his coin sinking to the bottom, yet it seemed to have done nothing._

" _Why is my coin not doing anything?" Trunks wondered. "Is it because of my dad that it's not working?" At that moment, a huge light shot up into the sky, clearing the clouds away and revealing nothing but stars that sparkled as if they were crystals embedded into space, and constantly reflected the moonlight. Goten and Trunks looked in awe. Suddenly, a burst of bright light shot down from the sky and dived straight into the spring. Yet, miraculously, it didn't cause any splash went it entered. The spring glowed white and blue before a ball of white light emerged from it. The light then dispersed and revealed some sort of silver chain floating in mid-air, before hovering over to the open palms of Goten. The area began to return to its original state, with the exception of a small whirlpool in the middle of the spring._

 _Goten looked at the chain in his palms. There seemed to be a locket attached to it, which he opened and looked at the picture embedded in it. His father._

 _Goten wasn't exactly sure on what this actually meant, but his hopes were high that his father would return. He safely placed the chain in his pocket, before turning his attention to Trunks. His mind had only one question: "Why?"_

" _Well... You looked pretty sad..." Goten had a surprised expression on his face. Trunks panicked; that wasn't what he was meant to say. "and... uh... I wanted to see if it worked for me as well." Goten said nothing as he stood up and walked over to Trunks, who was still sat down for some reason._

" _Thank you.." He smiled before he looked into the sky and realised how dark it was getting. "Oh no! I forgot!"_

" _What?"_

" _I was supposed to bring you home for dinner! My mom is gonna kill me!" Goten exclaimed._

" _Oh!" Trunks started to stand up but soon clenched to his knee and sat back down._

" _Huh? What's wrong? Goten asked. He inspected Trunks top of his knee and soon found a huge cut open. Some blood had leaked out. "Why didn't you tell me?" Goten asked while cleaning the blood from his knee using a handkerchief and the spring water._

" _It's not that bad." Goten facepalmed._

" _You can't even walk on it! What do you mean 'It's not that bad'?" Goten helped him stand and balance as Trunks hopped on one leg. "We should get home quickly," Goten said as he grasped onto Trunks to help him balance on their way back to Capsule Corp. On the way, Trunks would occasionally glance at Goten._

' _He isn't so bad, I guess I've been more of a jerk to him then I should have been.' Trunks thought. "Goten?"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _I... uh... I'm sor-" Trunks started, only to be cut off by a finger to his lips._

" _It's not your fault. You are Vegeta's son after all." Goten laughed. "I guess its somewhat my fault since I didn't like you because I'm not clever as you are.'_

" _I don't have a requirement for people's intelligence."_

" _Oh yeah? What about all those insults?"_

" _Take them as compliments." Goten kicked Trunks in his injured leg and Trunks yelped in pain._

" _Oh! Sorry.." Goten softly said. After another brief silence, Goten broke it. "So uh..can I.." Goten started to speak but then shook his head._

" _What is it, Goten?" His blue eyes stared at the pitch-black orbs._

" _So... umm... are we... friends now?" Trunks looked at Goten curiously, making Goten nervous and feel a bit weird._

" _No." Trunks said blankly, leaving a disappointed face from Goten. Suddenly, Trunks grabbed Goten in an embrace, startling him, and said, "We're going to be the best of friends forever, you and me. No one will dare come in between."_

" _Promise forever?"_

" _Promise."_

" _What happens if someone does interfere?"_

" _I'll kill them." Trunks grinned._

" _Trunks!"_

" _Okay, maybe I'll give a harsh beating."_

" _What happens if they beat me up?" Goten smirked._

" _Don't push your luck, Goten." Trunks smiled at him._

 **Flashback ends**

Goten woke up from his slumber at midnight. His eyes still raw and dry. He got up and went to his window while the stars twinkled.

"But you broke that promise didn't you, Trunks?" Goten sadly whispered to himself.

/

"I'm sorry, Goten. I'll make this right, somehow." Trunks muttered to himself as he found himself staring at one of planet Beerus' moons. He sat at the edge of the river lost in his thoughts as he stared at the big white moon. Goku, Vegeta and Whis.

"What are you thinking about, Trunks? Is it about Goten?" Vegeta asked and got a response with a nod.

"So what's eating your brain, buddy?" Goku asked.

"The stuff I said to Goten... I think I overdid it. When I saw his eyes, they were filled with sadness and a betrayed look. But I also saw something else; his lack of a desire to continue."

Goku and Vegeta just stared at the moon along with Trunks for a few hours. Beerus and Whis just looked at Trunks, inspecting his eyes for any sign of happiness, because he looked dead to both of them.

"I seriously hope he doesn't do anything drastic," Goku says with a slight of worry in his tone. "Worrying isn't going to help though," he says as he gets up. "Come on, let's get some shut-eye. We're gonna train extra hard tomorrow, isn't that right, Getes?" Goku gleefully smiles at Vegeta, who just scowled at the new name he's been given.

"You coming, Trunks?" Vegeta asked.

"I think I'll stay out a bit longer" Trunks replied. Vegeta nodded and he dragged Goku along by his hair to teach him a lesson about mocking the 'Prince of all Saiyans'. Whis went to complete some God reports, and Beerus went to bed.

He gazed at the bright night sky. For some reason, he could see memories of himself and Goten playing, and then seeing a picture of him as a toddler. The vaguest and earliest memory he had of Goten appeared. Him as a toddler, stacking books on top of each other to make a big tower. And Trunks knocked them over. Because he hated Goten when he was young.

His memories were not helping at all. He felt guilty for something that he had to do in order to save his life. Then Goten's hurt expression came to mind, and he immediately shut his eyes to get rid of it.

"I'm sorry..." He clenched his fist and lay there for a while.

At least 30 minutes passed before someone came to check back on Trunks. Realising that he fell asleep, he picked him up with his gloved hands and takes him to the castle, before placing him on his bed.

"...Cell..." He hissed to himself and went back outside with some training equipment.

Whis viewed his staff for any calls. Surprisingly, he found 10 missed calls from Bulma. He decided that it would be best to answer them in the morning as this planet had the same hours as Earth for some reason. There was also a message from the Grand Priest.

On his way to bed, Beerus noticed Vegeta outside still training.

"What a training-aholic." He muttered and lied on the bed, and would be sleeping if Whis hadn't appeared in front of him. "What is it, Whis? I'm trying to sleep!" He snapped.

"It looks like we've been summoned for an urgent 10-day royal meeting with the other Gods," Whis announced the news to him.

"So when would that be?" Beerus asked, hardly paying attention due to the tiredness he was experiencing.

"Tomorrow." Beerus groaned and let out a disappointed sigh before slowly falling asleep.

/

The next day in the early morning, Whis rang up Bulma to ask what she was going to ask. Everyone got up one by one, all except for Beerus. Trunks was the first to get up; his fear only confirmed by another nightmare, except this time there was a slight alteration in his dream.

"I need Vegeta and Goku. I need to speak to Vegeta and Chi-Chi yelled her head off all day yesterday for Goku to come home. And I'm not going to go through with it again." Bulma said tiredly.

"Hey, Bulma!" Goku yelled with Vegeta besides him. They've currently just woken up and were about to see if Whis could make breakfast for them.

"YOU TWO, GET HOME RIGHT NOW!" Bulma yelled, causing the group to flinch.

"Okay, we'll come," Goku answered. "I hope there's breakfast."

"STOP THINKING ABOUT FOOD AND SUPPORT YOUR SON DAMMIT" Bulma yelled so loud that Beerus covered his ears and caused Goku to flinch.

"Bulma, how's Trunks?" Vegeta asked wondering if she knew of the situation.

"Who's Trunks? That kid that set this all up? He's a bloody monster!" Bulma yelled at him, but Vegeta was expecting it. "I don't want to see him ever again!" And she hung up.

What the group didn't realise is that Trunks had heard it all. A tear fell down his face. His own mother just disowned him. He dropped the soda can, causing juice to spill out and alerting the others of his presence.

"Trunks?" Vegeta softly said and came over to him, knelt down and gave him a hug.

"Does mom really hate me?" Trunks sobbed.

"That little story you cooked up really hit everyone. Of course, it's going to make people hate you. But trust me, once people find out the real reason you did it, they won't hate you anymore." Vegeta assured him. "It's only a matter of time before Cell appears anyway.."

"I love you, dad." Trunks whispered in his ear.

"Love you too."

After a brief moment of a father-son relationship, Whis broke the silence by announcing that he and Beerus would need to go to the Supreme Council of Kami's for an urgent meeting.

"And I'm afraid that no mere mortals are allowed to go unless they have an invitation from one of us, and it can only be one person," Whis said. "Therefore, we're taking Trunks with us." Vegeta almost choked on air at that point.

"But what if the other Gods-"

"Don't worry. The only time people die at that place is when they're sentenced to vaporisation." Whis smiled, not knowing that his smile made Vegeta even more nervous.

"Chill out Vegeta, I'm sure he'll be fine," Goku assured him cheerfully.

He takes a deep breath and exhales. "Fine, he can go."

"Well get ready to depart, we leave in an hour. It'll take about 30 minutes to go to Earth, then about 2 hours to reach the council. After that, 10 days at the council before we head back to planet Beerus." Whis said. Goku, Vegeta and Trunks got whatever belongings they got and packed them in a bag. Goku packed his food. Vegeta packed his training armour and weights and Trunks packed a blanket and a spare gi Whis made. Whis set off one of the alarms waking Beerus up from his sleep.

"Dammit, Whis!" Beerus shouted at his companion before waking up with a yawn and a stretch.

"Sorry, Lord Beerus, but we must hurry if we wish to make it to the meeting on time. Beerus just groaned and went to take a quick bath.

/

"Goten! Come on. You can't stay in there forever." Gohan called out to his little brother. Unfortunately, he's been at this for almost an hour with Goten's constant refusal to come out.

"Come on, Goten!" Gohan yelled outside of Goten's room.

"Go away!" Goten replied with a shout.

"Fine, I'll just have to drag you along then." Gohan went inside to see Goten hiding under his bed.

"Come on, bro." Gohan dragged him out by grabbing his leg and forcing him to come out. Goten just looked at the carpet fibres of his room. Gohan knelt down beside his orange gi wearing brother and saw how dead his eyes were. He carefully lifted his brother up in his arms. "I'll treat you to an ice cream outside." Goten didn't reply.

"An ice cream with 2 scoops?" No reply.

"Three scoops?" Still silence.

"Three ice creams with three scoops each! You know you want it." Goten broke into a small smile and glanced at Gohan. "I knew it!" Gohan let out a laugh while he carried Goten out of the room and flew to the hospital.

"See ya later, Mom!" Gohan yelled. The wind hit both of the boys' faces, giving them goosebumps on the way as they flew above the clouds. Gohan saw that Goten fell asleep but the pain still evident on his face. How he wished he could try to at least make his brother happy again, and lay vengeance on Trunks... He snapped out of his thoughts and landed outside the city, and coincidentally, so did Goku and the others. The loud crash managed to form a deep crater and wake up Goten.

"Whis! I thought I told you to be more careful with your landings!" Beerus groaned while rubbing his head. However, Whis just paid attention to Gohan and Goten who were looking directly at them. Whis clears out his throat twice.

"Hello, Gohan and Goten," Whis said loudly.

"Oh great, now Goku's brats are here." Beerus thought before it struck his mind "Oh crap.." He turned to Trunks, who was knocked out cold from the hard landing. Beerus position just managed to cover Trunks from the sight of Gohan and Goten.

"Hello Whis, what brings you here?" Gohan asked with curious eyes.

"We came to drop Goku and Vegeta off." Whis turned to the men who were knocked out cold. "Unfortunately, they were bickering on the way, so I wasn't able to concentrate on my speed when I was going to land."

"Oh. Right. That's father and Vegeta for you." Gohan laughed nervously. "I can swear I can sense another person though..." On hearing this, Beerus wrapped his tail around Trunks and retracted it behind his back so Gohan could not see Trunks. "It feels awfully like.."

"Trunks?" Goten interrupted. Beerus and Whis sweat dropped as Goten got up from Gohan's arms and walked towards them. "Trunks?" Beerus charged a low-powered ki ball and fired it at Goku and Vegeta to wake them, causing Goten to stop in his tracks.

"Ouch Beerus, what was that for?" Goku complained while trying to wipe off the dust from his face. Beerus tilted his head towards Goten. "Oh." Goku flew to Goten and wrapped him in a tight hug. "How've ya been Goten?" Goku asked while ruffling his son's hair.

"Okay.. I guess." Goten said, comforted in his father's embrace. "Is Trunks here with you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Trunks isn't here." Goku lied.

"But I can sense his ki here though.." Goten started before he was cut off again by Goku.

"You must be thinking he's here, but he's not. We don't need to worry about him anymore."

"Uh...what?" Goten wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Well, Whis, we better get going," Beerus said.

"Yes. " Whis said. He turned towards Goku and the others. "We'll be taking your leave now." He tapped his staff and blasted off into space and a surprised Gohan and Goten couldn't feel Trunks' Ki anymore.

"Alright Gohan, where are we going to?" Goku asked cheerfully.

"The hospital," Gohan replied before he clutched his mouth. Goten looked at his big brother with a shocked expression.

"You said we were going for ice cream!" Goten cried. "Why did you lie?!"

"Goten… We need to." Gohan sighed. Goku's face slowly turned into an emotionless one. "Uh...Dad?" ... before using instant transmission to take him and Goten to a random person in the middle of a city. The person screamed and ran away.

Vegeta looked at Gohan before he grunted and flew back to Capsule Corp.

"No need for needles, Goten." The father grinned sheepishly.

"But daddy, what if mom finds out?" Goten nervously asked.

"Don't worry, I can take the blame. Do you want ice cream?"

"You bet I do!" He cheered with a smile.

"Great!" And the father and son flew to the nearest ice cream store.

/

 **Two hours later**

Beerus, Whis and Trunks finally arrived at the Divine hall, a big giant building on a flat planet. The entrance had two big castle gates coated in black and the walls were stone white. The palace did have windows, although when you peeked into them you see nothing but a bright, white light beaming directly at your face. The entrance was kept dry by an arch above, which was supported by pillars. At the front of the entrance was two guards guarding the doors.

"This is going to so exhausting.." Beerus muttered under his breath.

* * *

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	5. Doubts

**Chapter 5: Doubts**

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you stay with me for a while?" Goten and Goku sat at a green field, both eating their 1000th triple ice cream found at the ice cream store.

"Sure, son, I don't see a reason not to," Goku said while licking his ice cream. "Besides, I don't think Beerus, Whis and Tr..." Goku stammered as he realised what he was going to say. "Anyway, Beerus and Whis needed to go to a meeting so I probably won't be going back there anytime soon. Not to mention your mom is going to kill me if she finds out I left again." They both laughed at the statement. It warmed Goku's heart to see his son finally smile for a change. "Maybe someday, I'll take you secretly to train and you'll have a God form like me!"

"Wow, really?" Goku nodded and got a huge grin from Goten.

"I can't wait, daddy! Can Trunks..." Goten stopped speaking and almost instantly his grin and glow from his face disappeared, soon being replaced with insecurity and hurt. Goku hugged his boy gently.

"Come on, Goten. There's no need to feel bad. Whatever happened wasn't your fault." Goku assured his son.

"But dad, why did he have to do those things to me?"

"Sometimes it takes a wider view to figure out why he did those things to you. There might be another story to why he said those things. Just think about it for me, okay?"

"Okay, daddy," Goten replied. Although he did not really understand what his dad just said to him, he kept it in his mind if it would become useful one day.

Goku's stomach rumbled. "How does a picnic sound between the two of us?"

"Really? Yay!"

/

"Names?" One of the guards that looked familiar to Zeno's own personal guards growled while holding a pen and a notebook.

"Whis, Angel of universe 7 and Companion of the God of Destruction."

"Lord Beerus, God of Destruction of universe 7."

The guard grunted. "And who's he?" he pointed at Trunks.

"He's Trunks, a Saiyan and human hybrid of universe 7. We invited him for the duration of this meeting." Whis answered the guard firmly. The guard was busy flicking through pages and wrote some stuff.

"Right, just take these photos and go inside the grand hall. You should see your other fellow Kais there." He handed a photo to Trunks, Beerus and Whis. "Off you go then." The trio made their way towards the grand hall.

"I forgot to tell you something." Whispered Whis to Trunks. "When we entered this dimension, your ageing starts to slow down as well as time. Ten Earth days is equal to at least 2 months here. It was a requirement the Grand Priest wanted since some of these meetings could go on for decades, and some God of Destructions ended up past their prime. Plenty of time to train then!" Trunks nodded and stared at the picture. He could've sworn he had seen him somewhere. As they entered the Grand Hall, Trunks immediately took recognition of familiar faces in the area. The hall was vastly larger to what Trunks expected. It was almost like there weren't any walls. Each universe's Gods had their own private seating, a sort of balcony area filled with cushions and an endless supply of drinks, and a large room decorated. Beerus held Trunks by his shoulder firmly and said "U7A" before being teleported to their area. Immediately, they found themselves facing the Supreme Kai of universe 7, along with Elder Kai and Kibito.

"Welcome Beerus and Whis, and surprisingly, Trunks." He greeted them all with a handshake then turned to Trunks. "What brings you here, Trunks?" The Supreme Kai asked.

"Long story.." Trunks grinned and scratched his head; a habit acquired from Goten from prolonged hours of playing with them. Vegeta always told him that playing with him was unhealthy for the Saiyan mind.

"We offered to babysit him." Whis casually said. "Now to more important matters, do you have any idea what this meeting is about?" Whis asked as he led to the balcony with cushioned chairs overlooking the black void. He took a seat in the front row, with Supreme Kai on his right and Trunks on his left. Beerus sat next to Trunks.

"Unfortunately, I don't. A letter arrived for us, and told us to come here." Shin replied.

"Hey, Beerus!" A yell came from the balcony that was just a mile away from theirs. Beerus grunted as he heard the voice. And he knew too well to know who it belonged to. He turned his head to see an obese, hairless, purple cat.

"Champa..." Beerus scoffed and turned his head away. He wondered if this meeting could get any worse.

"Hey, Beerus! Don't ignore me you skinny, dead carcass of a cat."

"At least I don't weigh as much as a planet!"

"Skeletor!"

"Purple Garfield!" The two yelled out insults causing the others to sweat-drop. This carried on for a while...

/

Goku noticed the odd power spikes in the distance. He instantly knew it was Beerus and Champa fighting again.

"Daddy? What's wrong? Goten asked while he lifted the picnic basket up.

"Oh uh, nothing." Goku replied before he thought, "I hope they don't destroy the universe..."

/

"Big Belly!"

"Spooky Skeleton!"

"Good grief." Whis sighed. "Lord Beerus, please calm down, we're about to start." Vados also repeated the same message to Champa.

"Fine." They both replied simultaneously. They finally settled down until Champa actually remembered what he was going to ask. He looked to Beerus and then to the child who sat next to him.

"Hey, Beerus, who's the mortal?"

"That's Vegeta's kid; Trunks." Beerus replied.

'I wonder why Beerus thought to bring him along to a God meeting..' Champa stared in wonder. "So poor Beerus is hired as a babysitter?!" Champa started his mockery again.

"At least I don't get tired of walking!" Beerus retorted back, but both soon felt a sharp pain in their heads by their respective angels' staffs.

Just then, the black void suddenly filled with white waves forming in the middle of the void, which had turned to the colour of a darkish blue and white aura. A lectern formed in the middle and a smaller version of Whis stood behind it.

"Good day everyone. As most of you may know, Lord Zeno has put me in charge of this meeting." The little Whis spoke up. Unlike Whis, he did not carry a staff and had white, curly hair on top of his head. He had worn a blue top with an upside-down orange triangle on it. He also wore a red belt with a star on it and had blue pants and boots that reached to his knees. "Now, I do understand that we have some mortals in here." He waved to Trunks, who nervously waved back. "Not to worry though, my guards did not pick up any type of malicious intent within them. Now, on the matter at hand. Can the Kaioshin of Universe 11 stand by the lectern?" Whispers and mutters filled the air as the Kaioshin of universe 11 came to stand by the lectern. He was fairly built, had a dark purple skin covered in wrinkles and long white hair covering his shoulders. He was about as tall as Beerus and had emerald green eyes and, as any other Supreme Kai, he wore similar style clothes coloured black and purple. He coughed to gather everyone's attention and spoke in a deep voice that echoed through the void.

"Alright. As you people may have noticed already, you have a photo of someone. Can someone tell me who that is?" Beerus raised his hand to answer.

"As far as I remember from the last meeting, he was your apprentice called Zai. A really powerful one as well..."

"That's correct. He has a power equivalent to three Gods of Destruction due to a rare mutation in his fruit; you all saw how he managed to easily stop Beerus and Champa from one of their past scuffling." Beerus and Champa grunted at the statement. "But I'm not here to talk about past bickering. I'm here to talk about a greater danger to us all. 10 years ago, he disappeared from my realm without leaving trace of any evidence of where he is going until recently." He swiped his hand and soon the void had a picture of planet Namek. "A few days ago, he was spotted in universe 7 on Planet 4073, or as the lifeforms on the planet designate it; Planet Namek." This perked Trunks' ears up and started to pay attention to the topic. He heard the story of the mass dictator, Frieza, and how he had his father under his boot for most of his early life. He also heard how Planet Namek was the planet Goku first transformed into a Super Saiyan. "He has used the 7 Dragon Balls for unknown reasons and had used all three wishes for whatever plan he has in his mind."

Trunks thought about this for a while. "Cell appeared a few days ago as well, but he managed to escape without using instant transmission. Could this apprentice be behind it?"

"What are you thinking about?" Whis quietly whispered as noticed that Trunks was in a state of a statue. He shook his head. "What is it? We may have to bring it up if it's something significant."

"Well... It's just that... a few days ago, Cell was revived by someone, but the earth dragon balls weren't used for it. Then Cell disappeared shortly after we found him at Goku's house"

'And he was this close to killing Goten.' He added silently in his mind.

"Strange. Why would a Kai call forth a dragon for his wishes?" Beerus wondered. Just what was this apprentice planning to do?

"Now, please be aware he has the ability to move through universes, so I'd like for all of you to remain vigilant in each of your universes."

The Grand Priest stepped in front of the lectern beside the Kai. "I believe that's enough for today. We shall continue tomorrow." He said and disappeared from sight.

"Well.. That was unusually short. Usually, these meetings last over 4 earth hours." Whis said. The group went out of their seats and ended up in a large hallway filled with Gods talking about the meeting as well as catching up with each other. "Trunks, how about we catch up on some training?" Trunks nodded and they both teleported outside, leaving Beerus and Kaioshin of Universe 7 together.

"So..." Kaioshin started. "How come Trunks is here?" He asked Beerus, who then slowly began to unravel the story. Outside of the building, Whis was training Trunks on techniques.

"Right. We will be focusing on a technique that would enable you to make the most out of your power. But for that to happen, I need to, once again, spar with you." Whis entered into a defensive stance. "Don't hold back," Whis said. Trunks entered into an attack stance and started to charge at Whis in a similar fashion to before. He swung his right fist at Whis' chest but, with ease, Whis dodged the strike. Trunks then did a forward flip and attempted to kick him with his heel, but Whis caught it with ease and lifted him while he was upside down.

"Hey!" Trunks whined.

Whis mimicked Bulma's voice. "Now son, hay is for the horses." He tutted while waving his index finger. Trunks took in the mockery and fired a Ki blast at him, hitting Whis right in the face since he didn't bother to dodge. Unfortunately for Trunks, it did no damage to him. "Goodness.. You're just like your father." Whis said with black soot on his face. Trunks just giggled and put his hands behind his head. Whis let go of Trunks, who then floated to the ground and landed on his two feet.

"An all-rounder fighter? I expect nothing less from a Saiyan." Whis said. "Trunks, how much of you know of ki manipulation?

Trunks thought for a moment. "Not much. I know ki blasts are a type of ki manipulation."

"Not just ki blasts. It has the potential to be used in various different ways; such as a blade made purely of your ki, sealing away someone, and creating various sort of techniques. A range of abilities enables you to tackle your opponent. Now, what would you like to try making?" Trunks thought hard for a moment before an idea reached his head.

"I always wanted a sword like the future me has."

Whis took this in. "Focus on your Ki solely and concentrate its flow within you." Trunks closed his eyes and began to focus. He could feel his own Ki running throughout and began to concentrate on it. "Now, try to channel that very Ki to your hand," Whis said. Trunks concentrated the flow of his Ki to his right hand, barely being able to contain so much power into a little area due to the lack of experience. "Now, try to bring it out, but try not to emit it." Trunks' hand began to spark with electricity as he tried to form something made of purely his Ki. It took immense concentration to manipulate his Ki to form an object, but it quickly shattered. "Maybe we should try to control our Ki first," Whis said and Trunks nodded.

/

At Capsule Corporation, Vegeta was witnessing Bulma throw out everything from Trunks' room into the garbage while muttering how cursed she was to have a son like him, while Vegeta just overlooked the damage she is causing.

"Heh, wonder if Shenron can fix this damage." He smirked just before he was caught off guard by Bulma's yells. "Vegeta! Stop floating there, smiling like an idiot and help me!"

"Dammit woman, if only you could know," Vegeta muttered in his mind.

 **Flashback**

" _Vegeta," Beerus said sternly. "No one else should find out about this change. It could change the entire future very drastically and can even backfire on us. I've already told Goku. Whether he can keep that trap of his shut is another question."_

 **Flashback End**

He found a frame of him and 1-year-old Trunks. Bulma was attempting to put Trunks behind Vegeta's head so he could carry him. Unfortunately, for Vegeta, Trunks held onto his cheeks while crying, deafening his ears and leaving red marks on his face. "Damn kid." He chuckled to himself.

"Vegeta!" Bulma yelled from the house. "Get up here right now!" Vegeta hid the frame in the backyard and ran upstairs to see the remains of Trunks' bedroom.

/

"Absolutely not!" Beerus shouted at his twin brother, both of them were fighting over a piece of fried chicken.

"Let go, Beerus! I had this chicken fair and square!"

"Stop seasoning the appearance of your own stomach!"

"What did you say!?"

"Good grief... Lord Beerus, I'll be taking Trunks to that place for some training. Is there anything you need from me?"

"No, but send a message to Vegeta saying that his son arrived safely." Beerus looks to the chicken just to see that it was no longer there. He sharply turned to Champa, who was busy licking his fingers and holding the bones. "Damn... it..." Beerus' aura began to glow.

"Well Trunks, it's best that we set off after I send a message," Whis said while they both walked out of the building. "I'll leave a little photo of us." He pointed his staff upwards and a small reflection of them both in the orb. "Smile." Whis gleamed at him and the staff flashed. Whis then wrote a letter on a piece of blank paper.

'Dear Prince...'

/

 **Goku's POV**

Ah... I feel weird. I never thought that I'd take a break from training just after Cell is revived. But here I am, sitting on the sand on a beach. The salty waves hitting my boots as I see my youngest son splashing in the water in his trunks, collecting shells or fish or whatever he randomly find in the water. I feel weird.

"Daddy, look what I found!" He shouted at me. I still had my gi on; you never know when or where an opponent would appear. I look to see him holding a large jellyfish, which was dead thankfully, but still dangerous from its tentacles.

"Now, Goten, I want you to put the jellyfish down and not to touch its tentacles."

"Huh? You mean this?" Goten touched the tentacles, which stung him and made him drop it, which landed on his foot and stung him. And of course, he screamed. I teleported to him and carried him in my arms, took him back to the shore and put him on the beach towel. I look into the large picnic basket full of all sorts of food and find a bottle of vinegar and quickly poured it over his hand and foot.

"Uh, dad?" He started to speak.

"Don't worry, Goten, I know what I'm doing"

"You're not gonna eat me, are you?!" I tried to hold the urge to burst out laughing. Luckily, a certain Saiyan prince laughed for me as he floated down in the sky.

 **Normal POV**

"I swear, your son has the same mental capacity as you!"

"Hey!" The father and son duo respond instantaneously to the insult Vegeta made but laughed as well. Vegeta just smirked at them. Goten floated towards Vegeta and gave him a light hug, warming Vegeta's heart.

"I want to join the hug as well!" Goku gleamed at him.

"NO!" Vegeta shouted at him, causing Goku to frown.

"Aw…whatever, what are you doing here anyway?" Goku asked. Vegeta pulled from Goten's hug but supported him back down to the beach towel on the ground.

"Woman's getting on my nerves again, and as far as I remember, you owe me a sparring match!"

"Oh... well sure I don't see why not." He turned to Goten. "Watch closely, son, this is how a real warrior battles."

"By that, he means me," Vegeta smirked again.

"Ha! We'll see" The two warriors went out to the sea and locked eyes with each other while locking into their fighting stances. Goten admired both of them equally. It didn't matter to him if one of them tried to blow up the Earth, or if one defeated more enemies than the other. Vegeta's Saiyan history was buried; this was a new Vegeta who cared about people, especially his father. Even if he did say he hated him most of the time. Goten turned his body so that he lay on his bare stomach with his arms supporting his head as he watched the two warriors about to clash.

"It's a good thing we had the Ki control training, or else the Earth would've probably exploded right now when we powered up," Goku commented.

"Which is why I'm never practising Super Saiyan 3."

"Yeah, I guess I did go overboard with that transformation." Goku grinned sheepishly.

"Let's start." The two God warriors charged at each other ready to burn some energy off. Goku and Vegeta's fist collided in the air, both of them battling to push each other back with their hands. They proceeded to battle using their fists, while still being careful of powering up too much. On the sidelines, Goten was cheering them both on while studying their movements carefully. He hardly trained since Buu was defeated.

"Go Uncle Vegeta! Go, Daddy!" He cheered on.

"Seems like you're having fun." A deep familiar voice came from behind, capable of sending chills to anyone's spine. Goten slowly turned to see an evil looking familiar alien.

"You?" He quickly got up and went to his fighting stance, but the throbbing pain in his leg and arms prevented him from perfecting it. "What are you doing here?" Cell remained quiet as he phased out from Goten's view and reappeared right in front of him before grabbing hold of his face and slammed him into the ground.

"I'm here to kill you." He charged a Ki blast with his free hand proceeded to douse it through Goten's chest. Goten managed to stop it with both of his hands but was struggling to hold it back. Cell then sent in his tail, which Goten had barely held back with his two feet, one that was already in immense pain.

"It will be over soon if you just give up." Cell began to push the hand with his Ki ball ready closer to Goten's chest. "You ever wondered why your father never wanted to come back." This certainly got Goten's attention.

"My father blamed himself for 7 years of the number of enemies that arrived to destroy Earth. That's why he never wanted to come back"

"Is that what Gohan told you?" Goten remained silent. "But that's not the whole truth now. Listen, Son Goten." He said menacingly. "Your dad knew you were coming to this world. But he didn't want to believe that you were his son. Your power was pathetically weak; it's only by genetics that you were able to go Super Saiyan. But deep inside, your father knew that you were pathetic." Goten was dead silent as he tried to process this in your mind. Taking advantage of his shock, Cell pressed the Ki blast suddenly to his chest, causing him to yell out in pain.

/

Goten jumped awake from his daydreaming. He was still at the beach with only his swimming trunks on as he lay on the beach towel. Looking over the horizon, he could see Goku and Vegeta pounding at each other. The temperature dropped dramatically as he felt the cold winds blow against his bare body with his heart beating furiously inside of him, but he wasn't able to recognise it much. 'Is it really true? Does my dad not love me?' He wasn't to hold back tears that formed in his swollen eyes. He looked at his father in the distance and started to immerse himself in deep thoughts. He got Super Saiyan because of genetics, like Trunks. But Trunks beat him in the World martial arts tournament. He could not even defeat Buu as Gotenks. Whereas his father was able to be on par with the God of Destruction and fend off a fused rouge God in the future.

He shook his head to try to get rid of the thoughts. "No…. It's a lie. My head is playing with me. Stupid head…"

Goku and Vegeta ended their spar when it was clear neither of them was gaining the upper hand. "I swear, you fought Black and Zamasu much better when Black merely told you he killed Goten and Chi-Chi."

"Please don't remind me of that."

"I mean, I wouldn't want to see you if they did die in front of your eyes."

"Vegeta...!" Goku whined while clasping his own hands together in a begging position.

"Alright, but only because we were a draw. Now teleport us to your son, Kakarot." Goku put two fingers and teleported to Goten.

"Ready to go, buddy?' However, Goten's attention was somewhere else but on earth. "Yoo-hoo! Goten!" Goku repeated louder. "GOTEN!" Goku shouted loudly, causing Goten to jump into the sky. "Where are ya dazing off to, Goten?"

"Uh... nowhere." Goten quietly murmured. Goku could see through the boy that something was wrong.

"Goten?" A sense of affection evident in the father's voice. "What's wrong?" he asked while using his hand to stroke Goten's cheek.

"N-nothing dad.. I'm okay, just a little cold." Goten said while fetching another towel not covered with sand to cover himself. The answer he gave did not satisfy Goku a bit, but a nudge from Vegeta told him not to push on. He acknowledged it and carried his son in his arms before setting off home. Goten just snuggled in his arms, afraid of his fears becoming true.

/

"Let us test your abilities on this planet, Cell." Zai smirked.

"Ah, the elegance of my truly perfect form, grace upon this worthless inhabitants with my godly power!" Cell raised his hand and released lightning from the sky that vaporised any lifeforms that were within his view range. The shrieks of them were heard as they tried to escape the hell unleashed upon them.

"Soon, my authority shall be acknowledged by everyone. Everyone will bow down to the rightful God. No more will these fools neglect our existence, nor will I waste time idly sitting on the sacred land."

 **Please leave a review**


	6. Clay

**Chapter 6: Ladders and Clay**

"Son Goten... The clocks ticking..."

"No...no!" Goten finds himself within the grasp of Cell again, only this time, he was in a void. Cell just merely chuckles as he watched Goten claw at his hand in an attempt to break the lock off his neck.

"The times ticking you know. Or maybe I should do something worse..." He drops Goten and points his finger above him, aiming for...

Goten jerks his head around and saw his mom in the distance. "Mommy!" Cell fires a beam and she was instantly vaporised. "NO!" Goten screams.

"Now, who'll be next? How about...Goku?" Goten became wide-eyed when he heard that. Cell aimed for Goku.

"NOO!" Goten screams. He runs and tries to block the beam, but it just passes through him. As if he were never there. He turns in time to see Goku's body engulfed in a purple light, before disintegrating. "DADDY!" Tears start to drip from his eyes.

"Now, Trunks will be next!" Goten blood drained from his face.

"Like hell I'll let you!" Trunks yells from the distances and charges at him, while a blue aura appeared around him.

"NO!"

"Wake up, Goten!" Goten jolts up wide-awake from his nightmare. He saw his dad sitting beside him with a hand on his shoulder; probably due to all the attempts, he tried to shake him awake. He quickly shuffles over and buries his head in his father's chest, clinging to him tightly while his whole body shook vigorously.

/

"It's still unclear why you go with me, of all the candidates you could've chosen." Cell says to Zai, as they stand among the recent planet inhabitants corpses. Some viciously mutated, others covered in burned flesh, while the others simply had their bodies reduced to bone. Cell struck a Ki-blast amongst a survivor who limped away, killing him instantly.

"Seems I've not even given you a glimpse of my plans yet." He murmured. "Listen closely, Cell. I came from a God realm to achieve my motives. And I have one motive only; to make the mortals submit to me." Zai pictured the 12 universes fall under his grasp. Cell looked at him with a blank expression "For countless centuries I saw the evil that resides on the many planets of the Mortals. Many plagued by the wretched wars of conquest. The endless famines...wars...greed...sins...death..." Zai sighed.

"But I've also noticed the mortals follow their so-called 'hierarchy' tree; they listen to those that their own individual minds agree with; those filled with power and leadership. And with careful nurturing from those upper-classes, they are able to make them into what they desire. Slaves, workers, or blind followers of their so-called culture." Zai turned and looked at another planet filled with subjects bowing to their King.

"Mortals are like clay; you're able to sculpt whatever you want out of them into a whole new structure, a model. That structure will beautify into something much more elegant for everyone to see and form a model for future generations."

"So what you're saying is that you want to reform these 'mortals'." Cell says.

"Exactly. By my perfect culture as part of the base, there'd exist laws and social norms for mortals to live under. Nevertheless, there is a grave danger to this. If the 'clay' hydrates with new ideas, it would eventually spread to the foundation, weakening it and causing the top to collapse. A completely new base would require building in order to restore something even remotely similar to it. As my master once told me: ideas never die. Therefore, all those who have the capability to stand up to the Gods must be perished, in order to preserve that statue."

"Is that so? And what would I gain from this?" Cell looked at Zai. His mind was demanding that it would be something good. Zai thought for a moment, then pulled out a dagger encased in gold, along with a photo of a Saiyan with spiky hair, and stabs the dagger through it so that the photo was stuck onto a broken wall.

"What is it that you want the most?" Zai said cunningly. A manner in which he could tell he already hit the jackpot. Cell's mood seems to have gotten a whole lot better when Zai said those words.

/

 **2nd Earth day: Summoned meeting of the Gods.**

"Supreme Kai of universe 11, do you suspect anything that could be behind Zai's behaviour?" An old, yellow Supreme Kai from universe 10 asked.

"I'm afraid so, and it's very similar to your former apprentice, Gowasu. I believe Zai had made contact with Zamasu once, regarding their ideals."

Flashback

"The need for a perfect universe is to rid the undesirables called the mortals. The amount of problems they caused has upset the balance of the world, and in order to restore that order, mortals must be eradicated from total existence. The only worth for them is to fill the hell in the afterlife." Zamasu said.

"You do realise that not all mortals are evil, right? If such an opportunity arose, we would be able to reform them, and make sure that the sins they commit never happen again."

"I've seen what they're capable of, and reforming is not something they're able to do."

"Zamasu? Where's my tea?" a shout came from the other side of the connection. "I'll have to leave it there, Zai." Zamasu disconnects the telepathic communication, leaving Zai to sigh in exasperation.

"That Zamasu, he'll never learn." But little did Zai know that someone was listening to the conversation.

 **End Flashback**

"Zamasu... Zai... the two are similar in what they want to achieve. However, their methods are vastly different. Zamasu wanted the complete eradication of Mortals in order to restore the balance. However, Zai's methods are still unclear..."

Trunks and Beerus both yawned at the same time, only Whis' staff whacked Beerus.

"Lord Beerus, pay attention!" Whis hissed at him.

"Alright, alright." Beerus moaned while rubbing the back of his head.

"...and we do need a plan if Zai does attempt to carry out his plan. Therefore, I forbid anyone to tackle Zai by themselves." The Grand Priest said. Beerus raised his hand lazily. "Yes, Beerus?"

"Why is confronting Zai forbidden?"

"Because, if you were paying attention, I said that he already took the Spirit of the Next Realm box, which makes him extremely dangerous to handle." Beerus eyes shot open, his mind devoid of the boredom previously contracted.

"Whis.." Trunks leaned over to Whis and whispered. "What is that box?"

"It is said that that box has the power to create an ultimate God. Should Zai choose to open it, he will gain either a tremendous power boost. Or it will kill him and plunge the whole world into chaos." Whis says. "Though I am deeply sceptical of what it apparently brings."

"Another point I would like to make.." The old Kai started, before coughing awkwardly. "Is that he has no idea how the box originated."

The next 3 hours passed in absolute boredom for Beerus and Trunks. Beerus made minor contributions while Trunks just wished it would end soon and go back to training. He noticed the influence Goku had on him and laughed inside of himself.

"Alright, we'll wrap up the meeting there. The further meetings will be made on a status report of each universe. I expect the attendants to make a brief report of their universe and how many planets have been created and destroyed. Dismissed!" The Grand Priest faded and the other Gods grumbled while making their exit.

"That was sooooo boring. WHEN'S DINNER?" Beerus growled, making the universe 7 Gods (and Trunks) sweatdrop. As they made their way outside, Whis brought out four cups of instant noodles and set them with hot water. Trunks looked up to the night sky, lost in deep thought again.

/

Zai stared at a wooden box for a long period of time, the very sight of it making his skin crawl. They were both at their new base. Cell was busy burning off fuel outside on the dead grass. Zai opens the box just an inch, and black and white mist surrounded it before it tries to force itself out. Zai uses all his power to force the box to close. Cell was able to pick up the deadly and strong Ki and uses instant transmission to teleport himself to Zai.

"What was I just sensing? And what is that?"

"That? That is the box of the Next Realm. It's said to be able to increase your power immensely."

"Hmm? How?" Cell's face filled with curiosity.

"Something to do with magic.

/

"You see, Trunks, a very long time ago, there used to be a battle between the ordinary Kai's, such as Beerus, Shin and Gowasu, and the Supreme Kai's which govern the Demon realm along with their demonic life forms.

However, the threat level was very high and as a result, multiple Kais from other universes have perished. You might think they sound weak, but they are not. Lord Wheat and I had trouble with dealing with them as they landed on planet Wheat, now known as Planet Beerus.

"Eh?"

"The Supreme Kai's and the God of Destruction's lives are interlinked. A recent example would be Zamasu killing Gowasu, leading the God of Destruction of universe 10, Rumshii, to die." Trunks took in the sudden information and nodded in acknowledgement. "Now back to the topic. The leader of the army, a fallen Kai, went by the name of 'Zhang'. He was much more powerful than Zai was, capable of defeating Beerus or me alone."

Beerus continued where Whis left off. "That is until that magical sake those midgets gave them came into effect and allowed them to make quick work of him. However, since Zhang possessed some kind of sorcery, he managed to prevent himself from dying and forced all of his fallen men's Ki, and himself, into a concentrated area before sealed into a box. The same box Zai took. Embedded on the lid was these words: 'Aeredacad if av iti at aetatiluderc.' Unseal me and you'll receive a tremendous power boost'. The first part is in a strange language and still requires decrypting. And of course, we didn't trust it and agreed on a rota for each of the Supreme Kai's to guard, should any surviving members gain any leads."

"But... Who's Lord Wheat?" Trunks asks.

Whis smile slightly decreased. "Lord Wheat was the former God of Destruction of universe 7. Sadly, he perished in the battle."

/

"A box that can grant powers... I'd love to see what would happen if we opened it." He reached out with his grey, bio-engineered hand, but Zai slapped it away.

"Do not open this box. Everything will fall apart if you decide to open it just for a power boost." Cell just grunted.

/

"So what you're saying is that if we can decipher that message, we might be able to get a lead?" Trunks asks and receives a nod from Whis.

"And I believe Father has some clues"

"Father?"

"That's right. The Grand Priest is my Father." That revelation certainly hit Trunks' head like a bombshell.

Beerus yawned and stretched as he sat on a lounger nearby as Whis brings out numerous stacks of pizza boxes. "Time to dig in!" Beerus begins to munch through the hundreds of pizza slices.

"Now, let's start the next training session, Trunks." Whis says as he turns to him. His staff hovers above the ground and glows. In an instant, the staff sucked Trunks inside its black ball and Trunks found himself in a room filled with mist coloured in bright white. The sensation felt odd, yet familiar to him. In the distance seemed to be a purely white, humanoid figure wearing a pair of red boxing gloves.

"Now, Trunks." Whis voice echoed throughout the void. "Your task is to defeat these 5 stages of puppets, all which increase in difficulty. There is no time limit, yet I'd advise you to do this as quickly as you can. Supplies don't last forever."

"As quickly as I can, eh?" He says to himself as the puppet hovers over to him. "Alright then!" He flares his Ki up and attempts to fly up to the figure, but only finds himself unable to move any of his limbs. "What the? Gah!" He spits out saliva as the puppet launches his glove hand into his stomach. "Why can't I move?!" He grits his teeth as he tries to force his limbs to move while flaring up the white aura around him even more.

His efforts proved futile as the puppet hit him hard into his stomach, making him cough up more saliva. The puppet then pounded at Trunks with a powered punch every two seconds that passed, up to the point where Trunks was now coughing up blood.

"At this rate, I'll die from the puppet! Wait a minute….." His mind falls back to the conversation that he had with Vegeta and Goku, only to snap back to the present by another punch by the puppet. With a yell, he flares up his aura and releases a burst of air, knocking back the puppet a few feet.

"Now... where was I?" His mind goes back to the conversation he had with Vegeta and Goku. "Ki control... could that mean..." He closes his eyes and focuses, and his aura around him disappears inside of him. "I see….. Ki control is to stop the Ki from leaking out of you…" He waves his hand in this air as the air whisks around his hand. "This God Ki stuff is pretty weird."

The puppet striking his face again cut off his thoughts and he fell backwards. "Argh… at least I can move now.." He dodges the next punch and strikes the figure in the face. The figure rebounds and goes for another strike at Trunks face, which he spun around of and kicked him in the face, sending the puppet spiralling in the air, before it disintegrated into white particles.

"Well, now that's over with." He looks around to see another puppet materialising. "So this is to train to keep my Ki within me. If any Ki leaks, I won't be able to move, even it was for a split second. And depending on the situation, that split second could be valuable." He readies himself the puppet's assault. It seemed to flop around loosely as if it had strings attached to it, before sending out punches to Trunks at a high speed.

"Oh boy…" Trunks thought to himself as he braced himself for the fury of punches.

/

"It's alright, Goten." The entire Son family was around Goten as he lay against his father. Videl, Gohan, Chi-Chi and even baby Pan helped to comfort him. "No, it's not! I saw that green monster kill mommy and you!" He whimpered out painfully.

"Come on, Goten," Goku says softly. "Do you think daddy isn't strong enough to take him on?" He strokes his hair and gives him a little hug. Then baby Pan flies to him, concern within her eyes and starts to mumble something in her language.

"Look, Goten. Even Pan says nothing will happen to any of us." Gohan says. Pan smiles and gives a warming hug to her uncle. He wiped his tears streams across his cheeks and gently cuddles Pan for a while. The Son family look to him with a comforting smile on each of their faces finally relieved that the short panic attack from Goten was over.

"I'm going to make us breakfast." Chi-Chi says as she goes with Gohan and Videl, who was carrying Pan in her arms.

"Oh wait, Daddy!" Goten yells out to his father, who was going to bring breakfast for himself and Goten. "I..uh... I wanted to talk to you about something." Goku nods in approval and tells him that he'll be back.

/

"Hah. Your skills are no match for my power!"

"Just try it, fatty!" Beerus and Champa were bickering over a video game they are playing inside one of the grandest halls, much to the amusement of the other Gods and Kais.

Trunks had managed to beat the other puppet by dodging and blocking most of the attacks. It took a while since his Ki would leak out and freeze his movement, breaking his rhythm of defence and left completely open to the puppet's attacks. Eventually, he managed to control his Ki better overtime and beat the puppet.

/

"So what... is it..*gulp*..that you wanted.. mmm... to talk about?" Goku was busy scoffing food down into his stomach as he attempted to speak to his son. However, Goten was hardly eating anything.

"Well..it's just that..." He begins. "After I saw you and Mommy die... I also saw Trunks." At this, Goku began choking on his food, causing Goten to quickly jump out of bed and perform the Heimlich manoeuvre on him.

"Dad, you really need to be careful with your food."

"Not when I've got a son like you." Goku lifts him onto his lap. "So, you saw Trunks in that dream?" Goten nodded. "And what exactly happened?"

"Well, he had a blue aura and charged at Cell." Goku took this in with a nod.

"Uhuh, and what else?"

"Well, that was it.. They clashed and I woke up." Goten says and then looks towards Goku who was now working his very tiny brain into overdrive.

'Let's see... Goten dreamed of us dying. Trunks was here and battling Cell in a strange blue aura. Vegeta was nowhere in the dream. This was the first time Goten had that dream with Cell in... hang on! Trunks' nightmares... or vision... also saw Cell... so it means... It could mean...!' Smoke flowed out of Goku's ears.

"Dad? Your ears are steaming."

"Oh.. Must be thinking too hard again." He gave a sheepish grin. "Goten, can I read your mind?" Goten nods in approval and Goku places his hand over Goten's head. He closes his eyes and begins to read his son's mind, searching for that specific dream. He found it and started to analyse Trunks' power quickly, before pulling out of his son's mind.

"Wow. Trunks felt really powerful!" He turned to Goten. "Goten, answer me honestly; do you hate Trunks?"

Goten pondered over this question for a while. He did hate what Trunks did to him, but as far as to hate him? He never felt it. He had a strange feeling in his gut that just wouldn't go away. Was it because of that? Or was it due to his worthlessness he felt inside? Maybe it was due to the fact that Trunks was close to him his entire life. Maybe it was due to the fact that Trunks wasn't wrong. Goten shook his head, ridding himself of any thoughts.

"Hmm... alright. But you still need to eat." Goten just shakes his head.

"I don't want to."

"What do you mean? You've hardly had a bite!" Goten just stayed silent. "Alright, fine." Goku took his plate and set it down with a thump.

"What are you doing, Dad?"

"Well..." He sat cross-legged on the bed in front of Goten. "If you don't eat, I won't either!"

"Eeeeh?! You can't do that!" Goten cried out.

"I can so." Goku folded his arms and closed his eyes.

"Dad..." The pair was silent for a while. With the occasional whining from Goten for Goku to eat every time the latter's stomach growled loudly. Goten even attempted to tempt him by using the scent of food to try to get his father to eat. Goku was close to breaking, so he got his hand to stop his flow of oxygen through his nose by pinching it.

"I won't even breathe it in!" Goku says as he begins to show signs of blue on his face.

"Alright alright! I'll ea-" Goten was stopped by the sudden taste of breakfast in his mouth. "mmmm" He savoured the taste of his mother's cooking "This is great!"

"Isn't it?" Goku fed his son another morsel while receiving the same gesture from Goten. Thus, the two fed each other their breakfasts, with the occasional teasing thrown into the mix.

/

"Let's make a stop somewhere." Zai places a hand on Cell and uses instantaneous movement to travel to a new planet. When they arrived, the sky was dusted yellow with stains of black clouds present in it. A blackened iron gate was in front of them, a wall of yellow sand bricks covering any possible loopholes to jump over it. The land was fairly devoid of life and any signs of vegetation could only be vaguely seen.

"Heh. The locals hate it when we teleport in." Zai walked up to the gate and knocked on it. Using whatever spare time there was, Cell scanned for any lifeforms, strong ones in particular if he could test his strength on them. Much to his dismay, he only found 3 lifeforms on this planet. The gate opened with loud creaking and squeaking from the deteriorating hinges and stood in the entrance were three hooded people, with shadowed faces.

"Greetings, Keepers of knowledge. I wish to immerse myself in the ancient legends of the Battle against the Fallen Kais and Demons." Zai says in a very formal manner.

"We will lead you two. Please do shut the gate behind you." Cell and Zai both entered the gate, while Zai made sure the gate was shut, surprising Cell on how he obediently followed instructions. On the other side of the gate, containing a huge white pyramid with a white, smoky aura flowing around it, certainly catching the eye of Cell.

"What is this place?" Cell asks.

"Planet Decurriter, one of the oldest places ever to store the history of the world to the tiniest detail to the utmost accuracy. And I believe what we are looking for will be in here."

"And what are we looking for?" Cell asked.

Zai gave a menacing smile. "History."

* * *

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	7. The Rebirth of the Trio Universes

**Last updated in August 2017... Whoops. Now part of that reason was having a lack of ideas, and the other was due to making a snails progress on the next chapter.**

 **So uh... Enjoy, ningens! Hopefully, the next chapter won't take as much time as this one has. For previous readers, I had made some changes in the previous chapters, so it may be best to read those first.**

 **...**

 **I'll shut up.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The Rebirth of the Trio Universes**

The pair of self-proclaimed Lords followed the cloaked men into the pyramid, the surroundings only lighting up with white despite there being no clear source of luminance. They were in a square tunnel, which seemed to light up only a small part of their area. The walls were smooth to the touch, the feeling neither warm nor cold. Each of their steps was deathly silent while they could only feel the air blowing against their face, the source of the stream of air was unknown to them. Every odd minute or so, they could hear cries of people echoing out of the narrow tunnel they were in.

"What you have picked lies really deep; something that not even this planet has much knowledge of. But regardless, we'll try to satisfy your questions." The three answered in a monotone voice.

"I only have one question; what is the language of the box I have on my hand?" The whole tunnel suddenly went pitch black as Zai asked his question.

The cloaked men voices echoed throughout the tunnel. "The origin of the language does not exist anymore. For some reason, that has been erased from our data. I will say something related to this though. One day, the Omni-king mood was foul, and thus, three universes were wiped out; otherwise known as the trio universes. That was where most of the battle between the Kais and the Demons happened. Perhaps the answer lies in those universes..."

"But they're wiped out. How will we find out what this language is called?" Zai asked

"Between universe 6 and 7, there are these orbs, the size of a planet, called Super Dragon Balls, which were made by a God called Zalama. If collected, they are able to grant any wish that you desire." The three replied. The tunnel suddenly showed a view of the dragon balls, floating in the void of space. "There are 7 of them, and must be collected to summon Super Shenron, by chanting in the language of the Gods; Tenakawo Iganateshiso, Uyurinomika yodi, CHONMAGE!"

"Chonmage?"

"Mhm... Zalama was a strange God...which is a topic we will never indulge in." The tunnel suddenly went back to illuminating white again. The only difference was that an exit was not far from their position.

"Any more questions?"

"I believe I have one..." Cell says as he takes a few steps forward to the cloaked men. A sinister smirk on his face. "Tell me everything you know about Son Goku's youngest son." Zai rubbed his forehead when he heard Cell's question.

"As you wish. Son Goku's youngest son goes by the name of Son Goten, approximately 12 years old..."

/

"The Trio Universes... was where the whole Demonic war started. I believe we're all familiar with the Ying and Yang concept?" The Grand Priest was currently lecturing Beerus, Whis, Kaioshin and Trunks in a small, white room, filled with portraits of Super Shenron and Zeno.

"That's the belief that there's a balance to everything, right?" Trunks answered.

"Correct. Just before the Trio universes were destroyed, there was a strange overflow of darkness coming from there, so I 'advised' Lord Zeno to erase them. Whatever that darkness was, seemed to be something that they were planning." The listeners carefully took in the information needed for them to know. "I'm confused as to why you would need to know this."

"If Zai has that box, he'll certainly be searching answers for it and.." Beerus was cut off by the Grand Priest.

"And the language you're looking for will be in one of those universes." He finished off. "I'm not sure what universe it'll be in, but it will certainly be in one of those universes. Not to mention the fact that it's long overdue for it to be restored." The others looked at him with curiosity written all over their faces. "The yin and yang balance has been moving more entirely to light than darkness. If this keeps up, the entire world may collapse under the light, erasing everything from existence. Therefore, I'll get the reports from Whis and dismiss you early."

"I see. Thank you for trusting us, Grand Priest!" Beerus bowed in respect.

"I expect greatness from you all." The Grand Priest and Whis teleported to another place, leaving the Supreme Kai, Elder Kai, Kibito, Trunks and a very happy Beerus.

"Yes! I am finally out of that snooze fest! Now I won't have to see that fat-ass for a long time." Beerus laughs and leaps in joy, making the others giggle in silence.

"But now we must figure out what we will do once we get there. There is a good chance that they'll be disorientated for a day, but once that is up, they'll know who we are." Supreme Kai says.

"Hmph, it'll be a piece of cake." Beerus snorted while he sat cross-legged in the air. Whis teleported back inside with a concerned look.

"There are no Supreme Kais or God of Destructions in universe Trio; it's a free universe for chaos to roam in once we removed the Fallen Kais to the Demon Realm. Therefore, it will be incredibly dangerous, and I am sure many of them won't be happy to see us. Especially me and Beerus." Whis says while he let out a sigh at the end.

"Still not a problem.." Beerus snorted.

"Lord Beerus, you don't know exactly what you're going to face."

"I'm a God of Destruction. I won't allow some puny lifeforms from the underworld best me."

/

"Cell, what exactly are you planning?" Zai asked his counterpart. Both of them were hidden in trees as they spied on Goten's movements and behaviour. The scurrying on animals beyond them made quite an impression on Zai.

"I need something." Cell says as he watches Goku fly away. "Now's my chance."

/

Goten was busy cleaning up the mess they left in the bedroom due to the speed that they used to consume their food. The bed was relatively clean as he dressed up in his usual pink and blue outfit. As he knelt down to search out something under the bed, he heard someone teleport in. "Hey dad, can you help me find something?" The boy asked thinking that it was his father. The person took small steps in a mechanical manner; every robotic step he takes becomes louder to Goten. The latter questioned the sounds he was hearing and pulled his head out from under the bed to find an entirely different being.

"Y-you?" He managed to squeak out in fear. Cell just smirks and slams his hand over Goten's mouth, lifting him up to his height as he speaks.

"Son Goten, 12 years old. Best Buddy Trunks... and what a coincidence, also... ah, I won't indulge us into that. Mom's sad for 7 years." Cell looks around, seeing if there was anything of potential use, but shook his head to focus on the current mission. "Gohan's also depressed for 7 years. You didn't see your father for 7 years... Thanks to me, of course." Cell says in a carefree manner.

"Son of Son Goku, how you came to be in this world. Son of Son Goku, how your life has pathetically curled." Cell says in a poetic manner. "Son of Son Goku, born as a problem for mother. Son of Son Goku, very endearing is your brother. Son of Son Goku, a new toy for Trunks. Son of Son Goku, at last, we shalt hear it crunch." Cell grabs Goten's arm and gives it a good amount of pressure to crush the bones. Goten's yells out in pain, the screams only to be muffled by the hand of the bio-android.

"Do you feel that, Son Goten? That is a loveable sensation I like to inflict on others. It's called pain. And trust me, you'll feel a lot of this soon enough..." Cell feels Goten's Ki rising, so he touches the centre of Goten's with his index finger. "I don't think so. I don't require any attention from the others so I can easily deal with you here if I wanted, along with that woman. My conditions are as follows: Raise your Ki, and I'll kill you. Turn Super Saiyan, and I'll kill you. Try to escape and I'll kill you. Try telling anyone about me, I'll kill everyone you know." Goten was bewildered at Cell's demands. "If you understand, close your eyes slowly.."

Realising that Cell had checkmated him, and he would end up dead if he took too long to answer, Goten closed his eyes. Cell let go of him, letting the youngling drop to the floor.

"Good. Now, meet me outside." Cell teleported away, leaving Goten in fear of what was to come next. He makes his way shakily out the door while Chi-Chi was busy washing up. Gohan and Videl had left a while ago while Goku was out training.

"Goten dear, where are you going to?" Chi-Chi asks with an evident tone of concern in her voice.

"I'm.. just going out for some air." Goten said in a low voice, but Chi-Chi could still pick up what he said. She sighed but allowed it.

"Alright, but come back soon, okay?" Chi-Chi says in a delicate tone. Goten walked to her and floated to her level, before wrapping both of his arms around her neck.

"I love you, mommy." Goten said. Chi-Chi hugged back and planted a kiss on her son's forehead before she let go to let Goten catch some fresh air. As the younger reluctantly made his way out, she made her way back into her bedroom and pulled out a photo frame of Goten and Trunks. She stared at Trunks' blue eyes trying to find some kind of deceit within them.

Instead, she found two pairs of eyes full of life.

/

Goten entered the forest and found a trail of stones that lead on deeper into the forest. His legs were shaking as his mind clouded with fear. Cell hadn't even told him what he even wanted from him. He feared his own life, his family's and everyone close to him. As he neared what looked like to be a clearing, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw several white outlines. Humanoid outlines, which had taken up differences stances. Some crouched behind the trees while the others climbed onto the branches. They made a stance with the arms as if they were hunting something. Then they vanished.

Shaken by the sudden appearance, Goten paused his movements for a while, before resuming with haste. He arrived at a clearing and the figures popped up again, only this time they were more familiar. One's hair was just like his whenever he went Super Saiyan.

"Took you long enough. Another minute and I'd have to kill your mother." Cell stepped out of the forest shadows and walked into the light towards Goten.

"What do you want?" Goten asks rather timidly as he lowered his gaze.

"Heh. Somebody that loathes you." Cell smirked. "I want Trunks." Goten's eyes immediately locked at Cell's. "Ha. I'm joking. What I need is the Dragon Balls. I require making my own wishes. And I need you to bring them."

Goten lowered his gaze to the ground again. "I... can't..."

"Oh?" Cell folded his arms. "And why would that be?"

"They've already been used.." He flinched as if Cell was going to hit him. "And they don't reactivate for a year."

"A year, you say? Hmm..." Cell rubbed his chin. "That's not good. I need those to quicken the plan. He clenches his fist and tenses up. "But perhaps, maybe it's for the best. Fate will make our reunion odd, Goku..."

"Why do you want them?" Goten asks.

"Oh... nothing. Just make sure that I'll be back after a year. And then we'll.." Cell cuts off as he heard a telepathic voice in his head. "I'm speaking too much? Very well..." Cell looks to Goten again. "I'll be back. Remember, if you tell anyone, you know the consequences." He used instant transmission to vanish.

Goten looked around and felt for any sinister Ki signatures, before letting out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness I lied..." He muttered under his breath and wiped the sweat from his face before making his way back to his home.

/

At Capsule Corp, everyone was extremely quiet. Bulma kept working while the staff fixed up Trunks' room due to Vegeta's insistence that it should stay. Mr Briefs sat down in the backyard, looking at cars driving by.

"Tea, honey?" Mrs Briefs asked her husband. The older scientist just shook his head and sighed. The day seemed sunny, yet they hardly felt the warmth from it.

"You know, when I found out my Bulma was pregnant, my mind danced with joy. I won't lie when my first thoughts were myself becoming a traditional Grandpa." He chuckles. "The one sat at that single spot near the fire with a comfy armchair good for the back, reading a story while my grandchild sat on my lap.

"You know, when I found out my Bulma was pregnant, my mind danced with joy. I won't lie when my first thoughts were myself becoming a traditional Grandpa." He chuckles. "The one that sat at that single spot near the fire with a comfy armchair good for the back, reading a story while the grandchild sat on his lap." He pauses for a moment to calm himself down. "When I asked about the father, my mind changed from a theme of joy to a theme of confusion when I received the answer. Vegeta was the father, and we were going to be grandparents of a half-alien child. I accepted it; Goku has a half-alien child, why can't we?"

 **Flashback**

 _The cry of a child echoed throughout the Capsule building as the potential heir to Capsule Corp was born within the medical facilities of Capsule Corp. At present, there were a few doctors as well as Mr and Mrs Briefs present._

" _My my my, who do we have here?" Mr Briefs said in a curious tone as he carried the wrapped up child. The child seemed to calm down instantly as he carried him in his arms._

" _He seems to like you already, Dad..." Bulma says in an exhausted tone. Everyone chuckled._

" _So have you decided on a name for the little fellow?" Dr Briefs asked. Bulma shook her head._

" _I still couldn't think of one."_

" _I got one. How does 'Trunks' sound?" Mrs Briefs gave her input. The baby smiled at the name._

" _Well, I think this jolly man likes it. He'll be named 'Trunks' then." They all chuckled with happiness._

 **End of Flashback**

At the side of the Capsule Corp building, Vegeta stood in the shadows eavesdropping into the conversation. He merely turned his head and stared off into the distance as he normally does. Goku teleports to him, but even that doesn't make him flinch; he's already gotten used to him popping up out of nowhere. Goku looks around and finds only the Briefs drinking tea.

"How's everyone on your end?" Goku asked in a quiet voice.

"Miserable," Vegeta replied in the same tone as Goku. "Bulma's still upset and constantly tapping away on that keyboard. How's Goten?" Vegeta asks.

"Ah. He's still hurting. And to top it off, he's also having similar nightmares about Cell." Goku replied. "I can't describe it. I can't help him even when I have all this power in my hand." Goku sighed.

"Train him. It'll help clear his mind for a while and ease off any stress."

"I tried, but you know how Chi-Chi is like about training..."

"It doesn't matter. Try a week of training and then show her the results. That should be enough to convince her..." Vegeta finished off. They both take the same stance of folding their arms and leaning their backs on the building with a foot on the wall. They watched for a minute in silence parents and their children walking back home from school. Of course, not without stopping for ice cream first.

"Has Whis sent anything back to you about Trunks?" Goku broke the silence.

Vegeta stared at the distance for a moment more, before pulling out a letter hidden away in his armour. "Trunks is fine. Apparently, they were discussing this apprentice called Zai at that meeting." He looked at the contents.

"Apprentice? You mean like Zamasu?" Goku scratched his head.

"Yeah. Except this one has said to have a power equivalent to three Destroyer Gods"

"What?!" Goku exclaimed, but Vegeta hisses at him to keep quiet. "But, he's not bad, right?"

"He's taken something dangerous, though he hasn't said anything about what he took. Trunks pointed out that Zai used the Namekian Dragon Balls to revive Cell." Goku's eyes widened.

"Eh? Why Cell?"

"I don't have an answer to that. I don't even know how that Kai from another universe knew about him. What it does mean is that Cell is with him and I can't get to him." He slams his fists together. "This whole situation doesn't seem to have an end in sight." Vegeta sighed.

"It'll be fine. All we have to do is increase our power and fight Cell." Goku reassured him.

"If only it was that simple..." Vegeta huffed before turning his attention to the clouds.

/

With the snap of his fingers, the Trio universes, infamously known only to the Gods, were recreated in an instant. The Grand Priest reveals a hologram of a snow-white planet. "I believe you should start somewhere there and look for any clues to gain a starting point." He snaps his fingers again and Beerus, Whis, Shin and Trunks appear somewhere in the depths of space. In front of their eyes was the snow-white planet shown to them by Grand Priest, except this time it was the real thing and already they could feel sinister Ki signatures on it. Trunks felt chills run down his spine and became alert.

"Well, welcome to the triple universes of chaos..." Whis said.

Beerus just grunted. He grabbed onto Whis and the others copied his action. Whis then flew them down to the white planet. Objects became clearer as they flew closer; broken, large skyscrapers covered in blood and ice that seemed to have been abandoned a long time ago. They hovered just a meter above the ground and roamed around the planet.

Trunks just looked around, feeling tense as if something could possibly strike at him at any moment. From a black building, something observed their movements and spied on them every step that they take on the planet.

A few hours later, the group found themselves walking in a landscape in the middle of a raging blizzard towards what they could barely make out as a pyramid, which to their eyes was built upside down. There was nothing but sand and sand hills around them. The sky itself was pitch black. Streaks of blood red could be seen often soaring throughout the sky and ground. Trunks felt uneasy as his body hardly felt any air hitting his skin as they walked. It was almost as if they were in space.

When the group eventually arrived at the boarded entrance, it became clear to them that there were some people inside since they could hear shouts and yells. What was also evident was that someone was following them. Beerus turned his head and scrunched his eyes to see a pair of dots trailing to the back of a lone cactus. He points two fingers at the cactus and fires his purple, energy-rich Ki sphere at it, destroying the whole cactus. The others turn their heads quickly, all with the same question in their mind; what did he shoot at?

The dusty smoke cleared up and revealed nothing. Or least that's what they thought until a pea-sized glowing red dot seemed to hop towards them.

"My my... what visitors does this wretched universe bring now?" The figure spoke in an elderly fashion as he stopped in front of them while still continuously hopping in front of them. Whis took a closer look at the figure, trying to determine who he was. The pea-sized figure took note of this and chuckled. "Has it really been so long that the both of you can't recognise me?" The group looked at the figure with confused looks. The figure hops onto Beerus' nose and looked at him. "My oh my...And this is the new God of Destruction?"

Whis smiled. "I see. Lord Beerus, this is Marshal Netsov."

"Admiral." He corrected him. "Having the post of Marshal is tedious." The tiny lifeform scoffed. "Besides, Boris does a better job at it than me."

"Oh. I'll have to personally congratulate him on his promotion." Whis then turns to the others. "Everyone, this is Admiral Netsov. And if I remember this planet's name, I believe it is called Planet Darkulah. He's one of the many fighters on this planet who helped us fight Zhang's army."

"Hah." The ant-sized Admiral scoffed. "And who are these freaky looking things? Albeit, the small one looks normal to me."

"These are resident of universe 7." He pointed to the purple cat. "That is Beerus, the new God of Destruction. "

"Huh... nice to meet you." Netsov says, only to receive a scoff from Beerus. "Well, he certainly has the attitude of the former God of Destruction."

Whis then points to Shin. "That's the Supreme Kai." He then points to Trunks. "And that is Trunks; a Saiyan from Universe 7." The figure stopped jumping.

"Another Saiyan?" He then hopped closer to Trunks. "He doesn't seem like much. You'd think with the years that passed, the warrior race would've bred something superior than...uh... this."

The words that were spoken out of Netsov's mouth slightly annoyed Trunks and the younger Saiyan attempted to sense out his Ki. To his surprise, he couldn't feel any power emitting from him.

"Still..." Netsov carries on. "I suppose it would be refreshing to see Apolé again."

"I'm afraid that's impossible." Whis pointed out. "The Saiyan race was almost brought to extinction a few years ago. And by the time that has passed, Apolé would've died ages ago. This is a half Saiyan and a half earthling."

"Oh? What a shame." Netsov replied. Still, it seemed that he wasn't affected much by it. An explosion of smoke covers him and disperses to reveal Netsov in a huge size increase. He was about as tall as Goku. Everything about him looked human; from the skin to features. Netsov was fairly built in size and clean-shaven. He wore a jet-black trench coat with golden rank stripes across his shoulder blades. He also had jet-black boots and wore a black cap with red on the front of it. Carved in the red were yellow markings and a little star in the middle. "So I'm assuming you need something? It's not like you and your associates are regular visitors here." His voice also changed to a deep tone.

"Not quite... but we may require your assistance in the future." Whis says. "We believe there's a dangerous chance that Zhang may be released." Netsov gave out a long sigh as he heard this.

"I told you that eventually, someone would take it. But it seems that you Gods would rather polish it with wax rather than to throw it into a black hole." At that moment, several loud bangs were heard in the distance, requiring Netsov to shout over them. "I believe it would be best if we entered the hideout."

A door was outlined green before it dropped down like a drawbridge. Netsov and Whis walked into the gaping darkness that was inside; Trunks, Beerus following soon after. The hallway lit up to reveal a maze with tens, if not hundreds, of different pathways.

"More of your friendly visitors, I presume?"

"Of course," Netsov replied. "We're a natural tourist attraction for foreign miners." Netsov pulled out a radio attached to his waist and called in for the frontal entrance to be unlocked. The lift descended and revealed a world several thousand feet below them. A glass cylinder was the only thing preventing them from falling out. An industrial world all land yet the air didn't smell of usual gaseous smells of sulphur and carbon dioxide. Amongst the air were petals from the trees of cherry blossoms. The air smelled natural to them. Similar to Beerus' planet.

"Wow..." Trunks gasped in awe.

"Hmm... it's been a long time since I've visited this place, this place is a sight for sore eyes. I feel refreshed looking at this creation." Whis smiled. The lift took them down to the ground level and the doors opened. They stepped into what seemed to be a garage full of jeeps.

"So we're heading to see the Head of the State, correct?" Netsov asked Whis as he unlocked and opened a 4x4 jeep.

"That is indeed correct." Whis says as he entered the front of the jeep. Netsov was driving while the rest sat in the back seats. He drove to the exit and the garage door opened automatically.

/

Goten sat down on a park bench, looking at the other older kids playing their sports. The wind blew his hair and dark clouds appeared on the horizon, signalling sudden heavy rain. However, that did not bother him. He didn't care if he caught a sudden cold. He needed answers to questions, but to find answers required to find the questions he needed to ask.

The grey clouds quickly covered the sky and then started to release its hellfire of raindrops onto the park. The grass and path quickly got soaked in a matter of seconds, and Goten soon found himself drenched thoroughly. He laid his head back on the bench so he could feel the raindrops fall on his pale cheeks He decided that the only way to get clear questions, as much as he hated it, was to remember that day.

He closed his eyes as the memory replayed itself in his mind.

"What was first?" Goten murmured out quietly to himself. "Trunks... was in my bed... sleeping next to me. And then... he had a nightmare. Trunks said that he was having a sleepover... but I slept around about 2 am because I was watching a movie with Gohan. I remember... Uncle Vegeta sleeping on the couch... but surely he could've flown back home." He planted the first question in his mind: What were Trunks and Vegeta actually doing in my house?

"And then... they disappeared for a while. Then Cell came. What was Cell doing here, revived? Probably to kill daddy but who revived him?" He made another mental note. "Then he started to choke me before Trunks saved me. Then after that, we played...and then.." He groaned and rubbed his eyes, not really enjoying recalling these memories. "Kidnapped... but that person never returned.

The whole thing didn't make sense to him as of yet. He needed more information from somewhere. One, which could hopefully knock two birds with one stone.

"...Dad...But first... I should visit that place..." Goten opened his eyes only to see Trunks walk and sit down next to him. He heard another voice from the other side of the bench. His own voice.

 _"Trunks, can we go? I'm getting wet!" Goten complained. He tried to use his hands as some sort of umbrella._

Another memory was playing in front of him.

 _"I thought you liked staying in the wild though.." Trunks smirked back. The rain heavily drenched the duo. Trunks seemed to have the audacity to drag him out on a rainy day._

 _"Wild? This is a park, not a forest!" Goten pointed out._

 _"Yeah. And you don't mind getting wet there, so what's your deal with this?"_

 _Goten mumbled some inaudible words, already knowing he had lost the argument. Trunks suddenly had a devilish thought. He shuffled himself closer to Goten and then pushed him to the large puddle that had formed in front of them. Trunks laughed hysterically as he quickly ran away from a seriously angry Goten._

 _"I'm going to get you for that!" yelled out Goten as he chased after him._

Goten stood up and splashed his shoe into the puddle as he walked away. Children were still playing in the park, not caring about the heavy rain since the soccer match seemed to have higher importance. With a deep breath, he started to walk to his destination. Around him, various memories began to play.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!**


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